The Relationship between Agri-Food Production and Macro-Economic Dynamics: A Study on Soybeans in Brazilian South and Chinese Mainland

Abstract

This research article aims to establish a relationship between regional conditions of agri-food production and their correlations with macroeconomic structures. To this end, soybeans production in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and its trade with China are observed. The analysis draws on the Food Regimes approach in dialogue with institutionalist theory, especially considering the construction of agricultural production habits and models. The argument takes secondary quantitative data on soybeans production and trade, triangulating them with information gathered from international platforms – primarily FAOSTAT and Trase Platform – and with qualitative data collected during field research – using landscape analysis and interviews conducted with soybean cooperatives (in the Brazilian case). Findings on the formation of the soybean market between Rio Grande do Sul and China reveal historically constituted elements that shaped trade flows as they are configured contemporarily. A correlation between the Third Food Regime and effects on agricultural practice in the Brazilian region was also observed.