INSECURE LAND RIGHTS IN BRAZIL

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative examines the social, economic, and environmental consequences of insecure rural land rights in Brazil. It identifies key drivers of instability, such as the 'social function of property' requirement and institutional complexity, and outlines obstacles to reform, including the lack of an integrated land database and the prevalence of illegal land grabbing (grilagem).

• Brazil ranks poorly in global property rights indices, placing 64th on the 2015 International Property Rights Index (IPRI) and 95th for secure property rights on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitive Index.
• Insecure land rights contribute to significant violence and conflict; between 1994 and 2014, there were 723 homicides related to land conflicts. In 2014, these conflicts affected over 8 million hectares and nearly 100,000 families, with the state of Pará recording the highest number of homicides (nine).
• Brazil has remarkably low tenancy rates compared to other regions, with rates hovering at 3.3%, whereas Europe is at 33% and the United States is at almost 38%. This is partly due to the Land Statute, which creates suspicions of peasant exploitation and makes it difficult for landlords to evict tenants.
• Property rights insecurity drives deforestation, as clearing forest is often used as evidence of 'productive use' to prevent expropriation under the Land Statute. Research indicates that a 10% decrease in insecurity (measured by land-conflict homicides and Incra expropriation initiatives) leads to a 7% decrease in annual deforestation rates in the Amazon.
• Insecure rights distort agricultural investment and crop choices. Farmers may make sub-optimal or premature investments to strengthen their claims, and in conflict-prone areas, there is a shift from high-investment temporary crops like soy to low-investment permanent crops.
• Agricultural production is highly unequal; less than 1% of farms generate more than half of the gross income, while the least productive farms (66% of total farms) produce only 3% of total declared income.
• Land governance is hindered by institutional complexity, with 11 different federal bodies sharing oversight. The real estate registry is unreliable due to incomplete records, lack of georeferencing, and the practice of 'grilagem' (illegal land grabbing via forged documents).
• Brazil lacks an integrated database of public and private land, which is critical given that over 20% of the national territory consists of public vacant land. In the state of Amazonas, public vacant land accounts for over 40% of the area, or approximately 60 million hectares.

APA

Costa, R. D. (2016). INSECURE LAND RIGHTS IN BRAZIL. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Insecure_Land_Rights_in_Brazil_CPI.pdf

Chicago

Costa, Rita Damasceno. INSECURE LAND RIGHTS IN BRAZIL. Climate Policy Initiative, 2016. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Insecure_Land_Rights_in_Brazil_CPI.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Costa |first1=Rita Damasceno |title=INSECURE LAND RIGHTS IN BRAZIL |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=August 2016 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Insecure_Land_Rights_in_Brazil_CPI.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{costa2016insecure, author = {Costa, Rita Damasceno}, title = {{INSECURE LAND RIGHTS IN BRAZIL}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2016}, month = aug, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Insecure_Land_Rights_in_Brazil_CPI.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }