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Brazil’s Tropical Solutions for Africa: Tractors, Matracas and the Politics of ‘Appropriate Technology’

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  • Lídia Cabral

    (Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK.)

Abstract

This article focusses on mechanical farming technology sponsored by Brazil’s South-South cooperation in Africa. Tractors and matracas are taken as symbols of different agricultural development pathways promoted by Brazilian players. One stark contrast is between high-powered mechanised farming and no-till conservation agriculture. Another is between large-scale agriculture and small-scale family farming. Embrapa, widely known as the champion of the Green Revolution in Brazil, has also encouraged a conservation route and the use of no-till and small-scale equipment, such as matracas. The Brazilian Ministry of Agrarian Development, leading advocate of family farming and of political opposition to large-scale farming, has inadvertently sponsored tractors, feeding a new wave of mechanisation across Africa that overlooks the potential of smaller-scale alternatives. Brazilian actors and their African counterparts have instrumentally deployed technology, and tractors particularly, in the pursuit of their interests, whereas considerations about technological appropriateness to local conditions have hardly played a role.

Suggested Citation

  • Lídia Cabral, 2016. "Brazil’s Tropical Solutions for Africa: Tractors, Matracas and the Politics of ‘Appropriate Technology’," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 28(3), pages 414-430, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:28:y:2016:i:3:p:414-430
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    Cited by:

    1. Lídia Cabral & Poonam Pandey & Xiuli Xu, 2022. "Epic narratives of the Green Revolution in Brazil, China, and India," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(1), pages 249-267, March.
    2. Xiaolan Fu & Liu Shi, 2022. "Direction of innovation in developing countries and its driving forces," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 69, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division.
    3. Felix Ouko Opola & Laurens Klerkx & Cees Leeuwis & Catherine Kilelu, 0. "The Hybridity of Inclusive Innovation Narratives Between Theory and Practice: A Framing Analysis," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 0, pages 1-23.
    4. Felix Ouko Opola & Laurens Klerkx & Cees Leeuwis & Catherine Kilelu, 2021. "The Hybridity of Inclusive Innovation Narratives Between Theory and Practice: A Framing Analysis," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(3), pages 626-648, June.
    5. Cezne, Eric & Hönke, Jana, 2022. "The multiple meanings and uses of South–South relations in extraction: The Brazilian mining company Vale in Mozambique," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).

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