The political economy of soybean production in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay

The dissertation analyzes the political economy determinants of the agroindustrial model of soybean production in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. It identifies the dominant private and public actors and control mechanisms that have given rise to corporate-driven, vertically integrated system of regionalized agricultural production in the Southern Cone of South America. The study first sets the commodity chain-based analytical framework and traces the international expansion of soybeans and the development of the world soybean market. The second chapter studies the role of inputs and input providers. By branching into biotechnology, chemical companies developed genetically modified seeds. Coupled with agrochemical use and sowing techniques, the three components created a new "soybean package" which transformed the means of agricultural production. The fourth chapter focuses on the role of trading and processing companies. In the context of deregulation and liberalization of grain markets, trading houses leveraged their scale and financial advantages to consolidate a dominant buying position. This was reinforced by integrating downstream with processors and upstream with chemical and seeding companies. Finally, the dissertation explains the implications of the soybean agribusiness mode at the producer level. In each of the case studies, the changes in the means of production have created different---although not exclusive---relations of production. In Brazil, stronger local power has allowed for an effective integration of state institutions with the agricultural sector (coordination). In Paraguay, a formally unitary state, the interests of the soybean chain have captured the state for its advancement, based on power asymmetries and weak initial institutional conditions. The result has been colonization of the institutional structure by particular and foreign interests. Finally, Argentina is a case of centralized institutions exhibiting a conflictive pattern of relation with the economic sector/resource (confrontation).