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Brazil is on fire. It’s not just about the images of burning forests circulating on social media, but about a deeper environmental crisis that directly affects the health of millions of Brazilians.
The air in big cities, like São Paulo, has become practically unbreathable, and the sky has taken on an apocalyptic hue., a result of the criminal burnings that occur in various regions of the country.
For many, the environmental issue seems distant, but the impacts are increasingly close and visible. The real question is: who is behind this unstoppable fire?
According to Sabrina Fernandes, political economist and PhD in sociology, the destructive power of agribusiness in Brazil is one of the main causes of this environmental devastation.
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In a post made on the website Intercept Brazil, she highlights that the sector's relationship with the environment is far from sustainable.
For her, Agribusiness has managed to convince a large part of the population that it is the main force in the Brazilian economy, providing food and boosting the trade balance.
However, she argues that this view is limited. “While agriculture makes profits, it destroys ecosystems and impoverishes alternative sectors that could guarantee more sustainable food production,” says the economist.
According to her, the problem is that the current model of monocultures and intensive use of pesticides poisons the land and generates dependence on the export of commodities, affecting food production for domestic consumption.
The illusion of food through agribusiness
According to Fernandes, There is a myth that agribusiness feeds Brazil, but the reality is that a large part of the production is aimed at the external market.
At the same time, small producers, who could supply the domestic market with healthier and more sustainable products, face a series of challenges. “Without government support and adequate infrastructure, family farming struggles to survive,” she says.
The difference between the investments in agribusiness and family farming it is blatant. As highlighted by the economist, the 2024/2025 Harvest Plan, for example, allocated R$76 billion to family farming, while agribusiness received R$400,59 billion.
This discrepancy, according to her, highlights the dependence that the Brazilian government still has on the sector, even in the face of negative impacts on the environment.
Environmental and political crisis
Fernandes also emphasizes that the environmental crisis in Brazil is intrinsically linked to the political and economic crisis. According to her, Lula's government, although it has adopted more progressive policies in relation to the environment, still needs to break with the established power of agribusiness.
“It is not enough to put out fires; we need to attack the root causes of this destruction,” declares the economist, who also says that the problem is that agribusiness has significant political influence.
For her, during Jair Bolsonaro's government, this alliance became clear, with the Environment Minister at the time, Ricardo Salles, being one of the main facilitators of the so-called "herd" that destroyed environmental protection areas. Now, according to her, even with stronger environmental policies, the power of agribusiness continues to dictate rules.
The challenge of ecological transition
One of Sabrina Fernandes' main criticisms of the Lula government is the lack of an environmental policy that truly confronts the power of agribusiness.
According to her, the government's ecological transition initiatives are limited and often shaped by “green capitalism”, which only covers up the problem without resolving the structural causes of the crisis.
"We need a popular, agroecological and ecofeminist agrarian reform, which confronts the predatory logic of agribusiness and allows small producers to prosper without depending on monocultures and pesticides”, emphasizes the economist. She also highlights that, Without profound changes, Brazil will remain trapped in a cycle of environmental destruction and economic dependence.
Violence in the countryside and its impacts
Another point raised by Fernandes is the violence that permeates life in the countryside, mainly, according to her, against indigenous peoples, quilombola communities, settlers and landless rural workers.
"The advance of agribusiness is not only due to environmental destruction, but also to violence against those who resist this model of production.“, highlights the economist, who also argues that This violence is often made invisible to the general public., which does not recognize the human impact of agricultural expansion.
“We are talking about a silent war, where the agrarian elite allies itself with organized crime to maintain its power,” says Fernandes, who is still critical the so-called energy transition promoted by the Brazilian government.
Although the term suggests a movement towards sources of more sustainable energy, the economist says that, in practice, This transition has served more as an energy diversification, without really breaking away from dependence on fossil fuels..
In this sense, she points out that agribusiness also benefits from this diversification, since many of the “ecological solutions” promoted by the sector only aim to clean up its image, without actually reducing its environmental impacts.
“The carbon market, for example, is one of those false solutions that allow agribusiness to continue profiting while perpetuating destruction,” argues Fernandes.
For the economist, agriculture owes us. And for you?
Finally, Sabrina Fernandes says that the real debate that Brazil needs to face is about the toxic relationship between agribusiness and the Brazilian state.
According to her, we cannot continue to subsidize a sector that grows rich at the expense of environmental destruction and the exploitation of rural workers.
In this sense, she shoots that Brazil “needs to break with agribusiness” to face the ecological and social crises that worsen every year, and this involves policies that strengthen family farming, agrarian reform and agroecology.
“Agribusiness owes us, not the other way around. We are the ones who pay the price for their profits,” concludes the economist.
What do you think about the economist's opinion, reader? Leave your opinion in the comments!
The inefficient and useless gang is setting fire to the whole of Brazil and the fault lies with the agricultural sector… remembering that Lules made it very clear during his campaign that he would put an end to AGRO in the country…
Economist or activist?
Boy, what a clueless woman, where did she get that from, and all she has to do is read the articles and see who is setting everything on fire, how can a person like that be educated.