Export Agribusiness Versus Family Farming in Brazil: From Structural Heterogeneity to Financing Asymmetries

Abstract

The article aims to reflect on the dichotomy within the Brazilian agriculture between export-oriented monoculture and domestically oriented family farming by means of the discrepancy in their access to credit. By expanding the structuralist category of “structural heterogeneity” to encompass asymmetries in terms of the quality of financing sources and the volume of credit available to each, the article contributes to a better understanding of the differentiated economic–spatial dimension of rural credit quality. It also highlights the financing gaps in productive activities for these two major groups in Brazilian agriculture that compromise the possibilities of a more harmonious national development strategy aligned with eco-socio-environmental objectives.