This Wednesday I had the opportunity to sit in a Rose Cafe talk hosted by Andre Simores. Andre is a PhD student who is getting his degree in agricultural economics and is currently a guest scholar at Cornell. In the talk, he passionately talked about the geography, politics, and economy of his home. Even though his talk spanned a wide range of topics, a common theme seemed to unite them all together, which was how stability is the most important driver of socioeconomic development
To my surprise, Brazil’s many states has a wide range of different climates, each with their own unique characteristics which has led to some regions becoming more developed compared to others. For example, the state of Pampas in Brazil has moderate climate and a lot of flat area which has allowed agriculture to develop in the region. By contrast, the state of Caatinga is a dry area with low soil productivity and as a result water often has to be imported into the state in order to sustain its industry and population.
Andre then went on to talk about the political situation in Brazil. Until 1985, Brazil was under a military-style dictatorship but since then has democratically elected every president since then. Just recently, Brazil has impeached Dilma Rousseff due to links to corruption. This made me realize how far Brazil has come from being an autocratic government to one that peacefully removed a president from office.
As the talk winded to a close, Andre explained his research to the cafe and how he plans to use his research to ameliorate the volatile dairy market in Brazil. According to Andre, the relationship between diary producers and processors in Brazil is a fairly informal one and that there is no official contract signed between producers and processors. As a result, this leads to increased volatility in the dairy market and exposes famers to high levels of risk. In America, the price of diary is stabilized through the government buying excess milk and turning it into milk and cheese. Andre is researching a way so that a more formal relationship can be established between the government, producers, and processors in order to lower price fluctuations of dairy products.
This talk made me realize that economic, geographical, and political stability is the cornerstone of any developed society because it allows people and industries to have a degree of resistance to unforeseen environmental and geopolitical threats. In order to prepare itself for the increasing level of environmental disasters, the advent of automation, and geopolitical instability worldwide, the Brazilian government is going to have to start investing in its people, providing them with the skills and knowledge necessary to navigate this uncertain and rapidly changing world.