Small and medium-sized towns: spaces of action and articulation for agribusiness

Abstract

Coffee production plays a central role in Brazil's economic and spatial dynamics, particularly in the South/Southwest Mesoregion of Minas Gerais, where interactions between urban and rural areas shape the regional territory. This production both comprises and is shaped by the multiple interdependent productive sectors that constitute agricultural production for the global market, commonly referred to as agribusiness. The relationships between places involve horizontal, transversal, and vertical interactions, forming a complex territorial division of labor. In this context, this article analyzes the interaction between small and medium-sized cities within the South/Southwest Mesoregion of Minas Gerais, focusing on coffee production, the structuring of the regional urban network, and the agribusiness supply chains related to coffee. The research integrates a bibliographic review, comparative analysis, and economic and productive data from the municipalities of Campos Gerais, Alfenas, and Varginha, highlighting their roles within the urban hierarchy and the coffee agribusiness. The findings indicate that Campos Gerais, a municipality with a small city, plays a significant role as a coffee producer but remains economically dependent on larger centers such as Alfenas and Varginha, which, as medium-sized cities, concentrate infrastructure, services, and capital, linking local and regional production to the global market. The study argues that, although regional coffee production is predominantly carried out by municipalities with small cities, it is embedded within broader agribusiness scales, which involve the concentration of specialized services, capital, and logistics in medium-sized centers such as Alfenas and Varginha. These cities play a crucial role in articulating local production with global markets, thereby adding complexity to the spatial relationships between places.