Historical-geographical trajectory of coffee farming in Southern Minas Gerais: from local production to global agriculture

Abstract

This article analyzes the socio-spatial formation and the historical-geographical trajectory of coffee farming in Southern Minas Gerais, investigating the transition from production for local consumption to a world-scale economic activity. The objective is to understand how events, actors, and institutions dialectically related in the production of regional space, replacing "slow time" with the speed of globalization. The methodology is structured in a historical-geographical approach based on Milton Santos' theory, using a bibliographic survey and data from Municipal Agricultural Production (PAM/IBGE) to establish a periodization from the 19th century to the present. The results demonstrate that the region's consolidation as the world's largest coffee producer resulted from the evolution of techniques, the expansion of transport networks, and decisive state interventions, such as the creation of the Brazilian Coffee Institute (IBC) and the National Rural Credit System (SNCR). It is concluded that the advancement of the techno-scientific-informational milieu and the recent entry of multinationals into the territory intensified productive specialization and the process of financialization of agriculture in the region, inserting coffee farming into global financial market flows and the era of digital agriculture.