Land leasing and sharecropping in Brazil: Determinants, modus operandi and future perspectives

Ceding the use of land can have a positive impact on the unequal allocation of resources in rural areas. In Brazil, although the practice is nationwide, leasing and sharecropping are not widely employed. The objective of this article is to describe how these contracts work in the country, using 2006 Census Data. It was noticed that, on the one hand, the more advantageous contracts involve producers with higher levels of income and qualification, located mainly in the Southeast, South and Midwest. On the other hand, there is an expressive number of poor, small producers in the Northeast whose productive activity barely provides subsistence for the family. It is unlikely that these contracts will be a viable option to access land while there is still instability surrounding property (better definition of property rights) and the employment of incentives for the beneficiaries themselves.