From colonial to modern times, Brazilian agricultural property has remained immersed in a chaotic vortex of deregulation. Attempts of institutional reform - such as the Lei de Terras (Land Law) of 1850 - have been largely unsuccessful, whilst providing legal grounds for land grab by large estates and narrowing the scope of possibilities open for legitimate reevaluations of the first institutional landmark on land use and ownership in the country - the sesmarias.

Brazil has the fifth-largest national land area in the world and this land resource represents a critical asset for the country’s urban, agricultural, and economic development, also providing essential environmental services. Nevertheless, it has a historical lack of governance over its lands, failing to provide secure land rights and to control the extensive frauds resulting in public and private land grabs. The objective of this study is to depict evidence of these land grabs and propose a typology for analyzing them.

This article presents a comparison for the impact from lack of land governance in Brazil between livestock and agricultural production. It begins with a brief description of the land regulatory system and its development in Mato Grosso do Sul State and Brazil. The methodology was based on focus groups research, conducted by CEPEA/USP (Center for advanced Studies on Applied Economics/University of São Paulo) on local production sites in Mato Grosso do Sul state, where a regional modal farm was established.

ABSTRACTED FROM INTRODUCTION: 

At the beginning of this textbook, the authors would like to make two suggestions about how to approach the study of property law.

In the last years the Brazilian agricultural frontier is expanding towards the cerrado region, more specifically the region called MATOPIBA, comprised of savannah areas of four different states located in the north and northeastern parts of the country. This research paper aims to show a recent pattern of second wave investments in the frontier aimed at inferior quality land.

Women have largely been excluded from the ownership and control of land in Pakistan, which is the single most important source of income and status in the agricultural economy. This systematic exclusion stems from multiple factors at both the policy and societal level, which include multiple and contradictory sources of law that fail to resolve the issue of women’s right to property as well as cultural bias and discriminatory practices that arise from the prevalent male-dominant mindset in rural areas.

This paper explores the Pakistani government’s 2009 agricultural investment policy package — a response to increasing foreign investor interest in agricultural land — and considers the likely implications for local communities. By analysing the policy pertaining to the categories of cultivated and uncultivated land, the paper explores possible consequences that peasant farming communities and grazing communities face.

En los últimos años, la frontera agrícola en el Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia se ha expandido considerablemente. Debido al cambio climático, se espera una reducción del rendimiento de los cultivos, lo que producirá una nueva expansión en dicha frontera. Por este motivo, es necesario desarrollar una agricultura más eficiente, que incluya medidas de adaptación vinculadas a políticas macroeconómicas de protección de los recursos naturales.

The article discusses whether deforestation in the Amazonian region should be considered a typical case of market failure and computes the opportunity cost of economic activities that promote deforestation relative to uses that keep the forest intact. For environmental resources threatened by Amazon deforestation, forms of productive land use (“opportunity” uses) are considered in terms of the net benefit values of primary land-based activities.

China’s quest for natural resources in Latin America / Felipe Freitas da Rocha and Ricardo Bielschowsky .-- Corporate governance and international bond issues by Latin American corporations / Georgina Núñez Reyes, Ignacio Perrotini Hernández and Francisco López-Herrera .-- The spillover effect of Chinese growth on South America: an analysis from international trade / Gercione Dionizio Silva, Marília Fernandes Maciel Gomes and Evandro Camargos Teixeira .-- Territorial inequality, equalization transfers and asymmetric sharing of non-renewable natural resources in Latin America / Giorgio Brosi