Comparative analysis of the organic agriculture development path in Brazil and Denmark

Abstract

Growing environmental concerns are affecting world economic activity so significantly that environmental issues are increasingly becoming an important driver for economic development policies. A concrete example is the policy of combating hunger and encouraging organic agriculture. The general objective of this thesis is, therefore, to analyze two vastly different realities regarding organic production: the Danish and the Brazilian. Based on the divergences between these two realities, the need arises to answer some preliminary questions: What are the obstacles to the growth of organic production in Brazil? Why is the market for organic products in Brazil still so incipient? The general hypothesis that this work seeks to test is that in Denmark there is a virtuous circle of interaction between public and private agents that places the country as a world highlight in the sector. Differently, in Brazil, we see a vicious circle, that is, there are obstacles that hinder the growth of national organic production. To test these hypotheses and demonstrate the reasons that culminated in the virtuous Danish and vicious Brazilian strategies, methodologically, we first reconstructed the historical trajectory of the development of organic agriculture in Brazil and Denmark before and after the institutionalization. Next, a qualitative methodology was used to compare the Danish and Brazilian realities, the SWOT analysis. Subsequently, some tools were proposed for the construction of a factorial space based on quadrants to test the hypotheses of virtuous circle in Denmark and vicious circle in Brazil. Through these tests it was concluded that Denmark is in the virtuous quadrant and Brazil is in the vicious quadrant. Finally, actions and public policies were recommended to overcome the vicious circle of Brazilian organic agriculture.