Agribusiness, logistics infrastructure and land dynamics in the Amazon

Abstract

The recent rise in agricultural and mineral commodities (in both their productive and financial dimensions) is a powerful force in transforming economies, especially in developing countries. With enormous transformative potential, this dynamic has altered the spatial distribution of extractive activities across territories, and the Amazon has been a central arena for such changes. Here we advance analysis of the contemporary dynamics established between infrastructure corridors, land markets, and the dynamics of agricultural frontier expansion. In the first section, we discuss infrastructure corridors, extractive frontiers, and land markets from a theoretical perspective. Next, we address the main recent dynamics affecting South American Amazonia, followed by a brief overview of the eight articles. Our initial goal was to advance a broad panorama of South American Amazonia, but this was not possible since all the articles submitted focused on the Brazilian Amazon. This may be due to shortcomings in publicizing these efforts, or reflect the fact that this topic has not yet gained centrality in the reflections of neighboring countries. From our perspective, this highlights that expanding this dialogue is not only necessary but urgent, opening up a new research agenda.