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Labor market perspectives of the Brazilian sugarcane agro-industry : prospects and challenges
(2012)
Brazil has five centuries of tradition in sugarcane production and is the world's largest producer and exporter of sugar. It is also the world’s largest exporter and the second largest producer of ethanol fuel. Economic, social and environmental aspects have caused structural modifications in the sugarcane production system including the mechanization of the harvesting operation. Mechanization has potential economic, environmental, agronomic and social impacts. From the economic point of view, it leads to cost reductions, and possibly higher productivity. Mechanization could also have a positive impact on the environmental dimension of the sector’s sustainability as it avoids the need for pre-burning practices, a point that is especially relevant for the ethanol supply chain. As mechanization enables the harvesting of raw sugarcane, dry leaves and tops (trash) are left on the field, which could have agronomic advantages. The recovery of a reasonable fraction of the sugarcane trash could potentially increase bioelectricity production. These energy gains could increase the sector’s competitiveness and to some extent avoid emissions from fossil fuels. On the other hand, agricultural mechanization can be considered a controversial agricultural technology as its increased intensity causes a negative balance in rural jobs creation. Mechanization simultaneously causes a demand increase for specialized agricultural workers and reduces the demand for non-specialized workers. Currently, the lack of qualified workforce is a challenge for the sector. In an attempt to bridge this gap, partially coordinated qualification strategies had emerged. Even when a number of additional jobs will be created, presumably the sector will not be able to relocate its current rural staffing. Large portions of these workers are temporary migrants from deprived regions of Brazil who typically have low levels of schooling, including a share of illiterate. Other agricultural products have also shown the tendency to reduce their number of workers, regardless of the increases in their production. This phenomenon, partially caused by increasing mechanization, could also hinder the opportunities of sugarcane harvesters to absorb into other rural activities. In addition, the changes undergone by the sector have been accelerated due to the introduction of environmental laws phasing out the sugarcane burning practice in various federal entities. The complexity of this transition and the remarkable heterogeneity of the sector were approached in this dissertation using the Human Capability Framework. The use of this tool led to the identification of key capacity and labor market influencing features based on stakeholders’ interaction and feedback. The framework was an instrumental part of understanding the multifaceted system of actors and structures, which have a stake in the developments of the sector. The identified capacity influencing features were: workers’ background, workers’ union affiliation, formal and informal skill formation, demographics and productivity. It was noted that key socio-economic indicators vary widely in a regional basis with a sharp substandard trend in the workers from the North and Northeast. The identified labor market influencing features were: national and international markets, legislation, agricultural trends, working conditions, the pace of mechanization, and Agro-environmental Zoning. The labor market is expected to undergo qualitative, quantitative, geographical and temporal changes depending of the interaction of these elements. It was concluded that there is an increasing influence of globalization on the developments of the sector and that these changes will heavily rely on the developments of production, area expansion, productivity, and the technology adopted. It was concluded that if coordinated policies in a number of separate but linked areas and plans for their implementation were developed, then labor supply and demand might be more constructively linked when dealing with economic, energy, and sustainability goals.
Regular electricity access is a key element for the economic development and social welfare of rural areas. Decentralized energy generation has the advantage of using local resources, increasing employment and reducing transmission and distribution losses. Brazil is a tropical country, endowed with vast arable land, plentiful precipitation levels, and a large supply of human labour. Furthermore, it has strong regional distinctions with geographical, cultural and economical differences. Forestry and agriculture, important activities in the Brazilian economy, are dependent on local people and are deeply connected to traditions, nature and culture. Furthermore, these activities generate a significant amount of residues that could be used in conversion technologies for biomass, based on type, availability and market demand. When biomass were used to generate energy locally, community members could have business opportunities, improving local economy and life quality of individuals while diversifying the Brazilian energy matrix, which is mostly based on hydropower. Alternatives for implementing small-scale decentralized biomass schemes are dependent on the screening of the existing biomass supply chains, the implementation of adapted technologies for local conditions and the exploration of local resources. The present research carried out a detailed field work in order to evaluate the potential of Brazilian biomass in different regions. The author identified crucial needs, usual constraints and possible challenges of rural electrification and economic development in Brazil. Several case studies and social groups were investigated in the Federal States of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Pará to identify different resource management strategies, which biomass technology was applied and the needs of the local population. It was concluded that the compaction of biomass to generate solid biofuels with uniform properties could be a cost-effective alternative for communities taking advantage of the resources available in the region to produce energy. Nevertheless, each case has to be considered on its own. It was concluded that energy supply and consumption should be addressed through integrated research. Scientific research should be focused on technological solutions for improving living standards and socio-economic development in rural areas. The implementation of new regulatory arrangements and a constant revision of the Brazilian energy policies are crucial for encouraging a national industry for renewables. It was also concluded that the cultural, geographical and socio-economic discrepancies of Brazil could involve challenges for the implementation of future projects, even when their development would provide benefits for Brazil as a whole.