Browsing: farming

Brazil’s agricultural revolution and the lessons for Africa

Industry and Trade September 28, 2022

According to Statista, agriculture contributes at least 4% of the annual value added to the gross domestic product of Brazil. It accounts for at least 9% of the people who are employed and able to work. On the face of it reading numbers 4% and 9% seem like they are nominal until one considers the sheer size of the country of Brazil in terms of land mass. Brazil is one of the largest countries in the world in terms of land area. It sits on no less than 8.5 million square kilometres.

Of this land mass, approximately a third is used for agriculture. For perspective’s sake, Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world after Russia, Canada, China, and the United States. The Brazilian Report states that all the countries that make up the European Union would fit inside Brazil’s borders!

To bring the perspective much closer to home, the land mass Brazil sits on is reportedly seven times larger than South Africa. Zimbabwe would fit twenty-two times into Brazil’s land mass, and Kenya would fit 15 times into the South American country. The country is large. The land it uses for agriculture purposes alone would be larger than some countries and continents.