Agricultural policy in Brazil and Germany

a comparative approach between the western mesoregion of Paraná and the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen

Abstract

Agriculture plays a key role in society, both in developed and developing economies. In Brazil, it has fulfilled its basic functions, being strongly linked to economic dynamics and food security. In the European Union (EU) agriculture has also played a prominent role which, after The Second World War, has unfolded in the formulation of a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which has been mainly based on providing food security within its territory. However, during its trajectory the policy was strongly influenced by the particular interests of its member countries linked to trade issues, which were important components in the decisions taken in the economic aspect of agricultural policy, which eventually elevated the economic relevance of agriculture to EU trade relations. In this context, the study is included, which is based on discussing the objectives of agricultural policy in Brazil and Germany and its implications in the Western Mesoregion of Paraná and the State of Nordrhein-Westfalen. Soon, it was possible to realize that the institutional arrangement of the Brazilian rural credit policy was formatted to respond to incentives via market prices, which are dictated by the international commodity trade. While the CAP was concerned with maintaining the status quo in the countryside by public means untied from the agricultural price market. This process was sustained via transfers of resources from society to farmers through costly subsidies and eventually assisted in the maintenance of rural space in both territories.