IMPROVING BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY TARGETING INFRASTRUCTURE

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative and PUC-Rio argues that Brazil's agricultural productivity is hindered by inefficient transport infrastructure and a volatile regulatory environment. The authors suggest that realigning incentives for private investors in the highway, rail, and port sectors is essential to unlock investment and reduce high transportation costs.

• Since the late 1990s, Brazil's infrastructure regulatory environment has been characterized by continuous flux and uncertainty, which has diminished the viability of investments and eroded overall quality. This has resulted in Brazil ranking significantly lower than geographically similar nations in infrastructure quality.
• Inefficient transport infrastructure significantly increases the cost of exporting agricultural products. For example, transporting a ton of soybean from a leading production municipality to an export point is nearly three times more expensive in Brazil than for a similar distance in the United States. Furthermore, poor road infrastructure can lead to a near twentyfold increase in costs when production cannot be exported via the most cost-effective ports.
• In the highway sector, shifting auction terms between 1996 and 2009—including tax rates based on returns and quality-indexed toll adjustments—have eroded market forces. This has shifted concessionaire accountability away from user quality and toward meeting regulator terms, leading to deteriorated highway performance.
• The 2011-2012 railway regulatory framework introduced 'unbundling' by allowing independent operators into the network. Because rail assets are highly specialized, this separation of track ownership and train operation has diminished private investment interest and is expected to cause significant deficits for the state-owned entity Valec.
• While the deregulation of independent port facilities has successfully increased capacity, public ports remain highly regulated and inefficient. The authors recommend the full deregulation of public ports to increase access and promote competition.

APA

Chiavari, J., & Rezende, L. (2016). IMPROVING BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY TARGETING INFRASTRUCTURE. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/PolicyBrief_Infrastructure_CPI_FINAL_EN.pdf

Chicago

Chiavari, Joana, and Leonardo Rezende. IMPROVING BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY TARGETING INFRASTRUCTURE. Climate Policy Initiative, 2016. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/PolicyBrief_Infrastructure_CPI_FINAL_EN.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chiavari |first1=Joana |last2=Rezende |first2=Leonardo |title=IMPROVING BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY TARGETING INFRASTRUCTURE |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=July 2016 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/PolicyBrief_Infrastructure_CPI_FINAL_EN.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chiavari2016improving, author = {Chiavari, Joana and Rezende, Leonardo}, title = {{IMPROVING BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY TARGETING INFRASTRUCTURE}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2016}, month = jul, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/PolicyBrief_Infrastructure_CPI_FINAL_EN.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }