“Grilagem” in the Pontal• Grilagem: “the fraudulent appropriation of public and leaseholder lands”

• Terras devolutas: lands that have been historically acquired by the process of grilagem but have either been legally forfeited to the state or determined by the state to be public lands

• The Law of the Lands (1850) allowed the illegal acquisition of vast tracks of land by a few wealthy political elites and plantation owners

• 3 forest reserves were created in 1940s — today, two of the three reserves have been completely destroyed

• In the 1990s the MST realized their first land occupation in the region

• Over 111 rural settlements have been created in the region with 6,182 families living on an area of about 140,272 hectares (DATALUTA, 2010)

• Over 1,200,000 hectares agricultural land in the Pontal have been legally classified as terras devolutas (public state lands) and are able to be redistributed

Agribusiness: The New Face of the Latifúndio

• Latifúndio = a private land-holding larger than 1000 hectares (2200 acres) with low to no agricultural productivity.

• The traditional latifúndio is being replaced by modern transnational agro-energy corporations

• Of the 26 sugarcane refineries in the western region of the São Paulo 15 are located in the municipalities of the Pontal do Paranapanema

• National MNCs are supported by government policy and large banks

• Foreign land ownership is increasing

• Sugarcane expansion is primarily occurring on lands classified as “marginal” or “degraded”

• There has be a renewal and reinforcement of historical exclusionary social, economic and land policies in the name of “productivity” and profit

The Pontal do Paranapanema: A Case Study

The territorial dispute between peasants and agribusiness is illustrated in this photo of the Mário Lago agrarian reform settlement with food production lots to the left and sugarcane to the right. Photo: Douglas Mansur, 2005.

Sugarcane versus land reform settlement expansion in the Pontal do

Paranapanema 2003-08 (area in hectares)

2003-2004 2005-2006 2007-08 % increase

Sugarcane 71,095 92,391 152, 027 114%

Settlements 127,438 137,991 140,272 10%

Source: UNICA 2009, Fernandes et al. 2009Note: By 2009-10, the sugarcane area had expanded yet again to 208,953 hectares but the comparative growth of the settlement areas is not yet known.

Social Impacts of Sugar Cane Ethanol in the Pontal

• Less redistributive agrarian reform and land reform settlement

• Increased land conflicts between agribusiness and small-farmers and rural workers

• Rising land prices and increasing land rents

• The expropriation of peasant land and subordination of the peasantry

• Exploitation of plantation workers

• The loss of over 100,000 jobs with the mechanization of the sugarcane harvest and few jobs created to replace those lost

• Increased social and economic inequalities

• Reduced food security for small farmers and the region’s municipalities

Environmental Impacts• Monocultures of sugarcane alone account for 13% of the nation’s herbicide application (Altieri and Bravo, 2009).

•Continued use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides further depletes nutrients in the soil and contaminates groundwater and streams/rivers

• Aerial application of pesticides blows onto neighbouring properties of small farmers, killing plants and poisoning livestock and people

• Pushes cattle ranching and the cultivation of other crops (primarily soy and coffee) northward or eastward into other states and the Amazon

• Less incentive for reforestation in region and more relaxed conservation laws

• A significant amount of water is used in the cultivation of sugarcane and the production of ethanol (although sugarcane refineries are becoming much more efficient with water use in the processing process)

• GM sugarcane poses threat of cross-contamination with traditional varieties and results in a reduction of region’s overall biodiversity

Alternatives for Land Use• 70% of all the food consumed in Brazil is produced by small farmers planting on only 30% of all the agricultural land (de Athayde and Martins 2008)

• Reforestation projects: i.e. “Green Embrace” and “Islands of Diversity” and agroforestry projects: inter-planting coffee in forested regions near settelments

•MST promotes and attempts to implement agroecology in their land settlements

•AGROECOLOGY:

• “The application of ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of sustainable agroecosystems” (Gliessman, qtd in Altieri 2003)

• Chemical-free agriculture based on a harmonious symbiotic relationship between farmer, land, flora and fauna.

•utilizes traditional knowledge, polyculture, rotational cropping & low tillage methods, & require little-to no fossil fuel inputs

• Challenges to implementing agroecology: degraded soils, asymmetrical power relations, lack of political support & access to financial & technical assistance, lack of traditional knowledge, accessible markets or means to bring products to market…

•

Agrofuels and the Future of Agrarian Reform in Brazil

"Land reform is the solution for the economic, social, environmental and political problems of our country. We fight in the ways we can, but land reform will not be brought about solely by Brazilian workers and Brazilian society. Land reform in Brazil also depends on international solidarity." - Anonymous MST Member

• Brazil plans to replace 10% of the worlds fossil fuels by 2025

• Increased energy production from bygasse (the waste product from sugarcane processing) & continued expansion of soya monocultures to produce biodiesel

• Domestic growth will dominate production and consumption in midterm, but the strategic long-term goal is to create a global ethanol commodity market

• Despite its exceptional efficienies Brazil's sugarcane ethanol program is not a model for other developing countries to follow, as it is being promoted to be

• Current path will only increase concentration of land ownership, and social and economic inequalities while other truly sustainable alternatives that would actually address local energy and food security needs will continue to be undermined

Conclusion

“A change in consumer patterns is essential, because no current sustainable energy source can supply the world’s demand for energy. But this option has been mostly excluded from the debates around reducing greenhouse gases. The first step should be to invest heavily in public transportation, in addition to working towards a better handling of waste, greater energy efficiency, and the development of alternative energy sources that are truly renewable” (Mendonça, 2009, pg 74).

“Climate change is the end point of the arrogant modernist dream of creating an artificial environment based on an imperialist industrialization process to supplant an ecology rooted in a more harmonious relationship between community and biosphere based on smallholder agriculture” (Bello, 2007, pg 3)

“Sugar has never enriched anyone but slave traders, local landlords, industrial farmers, sugar barons, speculators, food corporations, PR consultants and professional politicians. No-one has ever traded their way out of poverty with sugar, and there’s no reason to suppose that they ever will” (Ransom, 2003).

For more information see:

ALTIERI, Miguel., BRAVO, Elizabeth. “The Ecological and Social Tragedy of Crop-based Biofuel Production in the Americas.” In Jonasse, Richard. Agrofuels in the Americas. Food First Books, Oakland, 2009. Pg. 15-24 Available online at: http://www.foodfirst.org/files/pdf/Agrofuels_in_the_Americas.pdf

COTULA, L., DYER , N. and VERMEULEN, S. (2008) Fueling Exclusion? The Biofuels Boom and Poor People’s Access to Land. IIED/FAO, London. Available online at: http://www.iied.org/pubs/pdfs/12551IIED.pdf

FERNANDES, Bernardo Mançano , WELCH, Clifford Andrew and GONCALVES, Elienaí Constantino (2010)'Agrofuel policies in Brazil: paradigmatic and territorial disputes', Journal of Peasant Studies, 37: 4, 793 — 819 http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a927234645~frm=titlelink

HOLLANDER, Gail (2010) 'Power is sweet: sugarcane in the global ethanol assemblage', Journal of PeasantStudies, 37: 4, 699 — 721http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a927238589~frm=titlelink

IFAD. (June 2009). Enabling poor rural people to overcome poverty in Brazil. Available online at: http://www.ifad.org/operations/projects/regions/PL/factsheet/brazil_e.pdf

MST OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.mstbrazil.org

MENDOCA, Maria Luisa. “The Environmental and Social Consequences of “Green Capitalism” in Brazil. In Jonasse, Richard. Agrofuels in the Americas. Food First Books, Oakland, 2009. Pg 65-75. Available online from http://www.foodfirst.org/files/pdf/Agrofuels_in_the_Americas.pdf

WILKINSON, John and HERRERA, Selena .(2010). 'Biofuels in Brazil: debates and impacts', Journal of Peasant Studies, 37: 4, 749 — 768 Available online from: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a927244231~frm=titlelink

UNEP. (2009). Towards Sustainable Production and Use of Resources: Accessing Biofuels. http://www.unep.fr/scp/rpanel/pdf/Assessing_Biofuels_Full_Report.pdf