Regional disembeddiment, frontier and the space of agribusiness in Tocantins

economic growth without income distribution

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate and analyze the social indicators of the Tocantins municipalities of Campos Lindos, Formoso do Araguaia, Lagoa da Confusion, Pedro Afonso and Porto Nacional from 1991 to 2010 where agribusiness operates. What can be seen is that the social quality of life indices of the municipalities analyzed do not correspond to those recommended by the United Nations. The elaboration of the text was based on a bibliographical review about the theoretical debate about the relationship between the agribusiness economic activity and the social conditions of the local population. The methodological procedures were based on the qualitative method. These procedures were organized and executed based on a theoretical and critical analysis of the social developments of the capitalist frontier in Tocantins. The negative impacts from agribusiness are of major proportions. The large concentration of land for the production of monocultures such as soybeans ends up appropriating the productive spaces of small landowners. On the other hand, farmers do not have the financial resources to invest in technology to produce on a larger scale and compete with the large producer. The large estates, although they concentrate a large area of cultivation, do not employ many workers, part of the offered labor is automated. The planting and harvesting of the production are carried out in a mechanized and seasonal manner, which requires a technical labor force, which often does not absorb the available labor force in the regions where the agribusiness economic activity is located.

Keyword: Agribusiness. Capitalist Frontier. Social Indicators. Regional Development Policies.