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• Foreword

  Innovation, Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability in Brazil is part of the OECD Food and Agricultural Reviews series. It was undertaken at the request of the Brazilian authorities, represented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food.

• Acronyms
• Executive summary

  Agriculture and the agro-processing sector in Brazil have shown impressive growth over the past two decades. This has been largely driven by productivity improvements and structural adjustment resulting from broad economic reforms, as well as new technologies developed by agricultural science. Government policy and industry initiatives are increasingly focussed on sustainability of agricultural development.

• Overall assessment and recommendations

  This chapter presents the framework applied in the review to analyse the extent to which Brazilian policies are supportive of innovation for productivity and sustainability, and the findings of the review of a wide range of policies in Brazil. In each policy area, it develops specific policy recommendations.

• Overview of the food and agriculture situation in Brazil

  This chapter provides an overview of the situation of the food and agriculture sector in Brazil. It describes the overall economic, social and environmental context in which the sector operates, and the natural resource base upon which it relies. It provides an overview of the general geographical and economic characteristics of Brazil and outlines the contribution of the agri-food system to the economy. It identifies the main structural characteristics of the primary agricultural and upstream and downstream industries; describes the main food and agriculture outputs and markets; and reviews trends in agricultural productivity and sustainability.

• Economic stability and trust in institutions in Brazil

  This chapter outlines the importance of economic stability and public institutions in fostering public and private investment. It provides an overview of the performance of the overall economy, outlines macroeconomic developments and challenges, and presents an evaluation of public institutions.

• Investment in the Brazilian food and agriculture system

  This chapter presents an overview of Brazilian regulations that govern entrepreneurship, access to natural resources, products, and processes and the extent to which they affect the adoption of innovative practices and the introduction of new products. It also discusses Brazilian policies related to trade, investment, finance and taxation and their impact on the capacity of farms and agri-food firms to invest and take advantage of market opportunities.

• Capacity building and services for the Brazilian food and agriculture system

  This chapter outlines the role of infrastructure capacity, skills and education in facilitating innovation in agri-food. It describes the governance of policies to improve rural infrastructure, outlines the main regional programmes, and reviews briefly the quality and coverage of rural services. It then discusses efforts to respond to skill demands from the agrifood sector through labour, immigration and education policies. It also reports on trends in education expenditure and outlines the performance of the education system. Finally, it provides an overview of education levels in agricultural, and enrolment in agricultural programmes, outlining the gap between supply and demand of skills in the sector.

• Brazilian agricultural policy: Structural change, sustainability and innovation

  This chapter provides an overview of domestic and trade agricultural measures, outlining those that support credit and environmental practices, and the development of bio-products. It also reports trends on the level and composition of support, and discusses the likely impact of agricultural policy measures on structural change, environmental performance and innovation in the sector.

• The Brazilian Agricultural Innovation System

  This chapter analyses the functioning of the Brazilian agricultural innovation system. It discusses the role of the different actors and describes governance mechanisms to define priorities and evaluate performance. It analyses trends in agricultural R&D expenditure and sources of funding, the role of intellectual property protection in fostering knowledge markets, and outlines mechanisms used to facilitate knowledge transfers, including collaboration at the national level and the adoption of innovation at the farm or firm level. It also outlines efforts to strengthen international R&D co-operation. Finally, it provides evidence on the performance of the agricultural innovation system, including R&D outputs and adoption rates.

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