Brazil Becomes the New Food Superpower
As commodity prices soar, South America's agricultural giant steps up to feed a needy world
Reader Comments
Ex-Pat in Brazil
I left a mid-six figure salary and moved to Brazil almost 4 years ago with my Brazilian wife for the purpose of investing in land. Foreignors need to be careful when they first arrive because they can easily be taken advantage of but of course a Brazilian wife certainly helps. It takes 2 or 3 years to figure things out but it is a great experience once you hit your stride. Almost everything grows here and quickly. We plant trees now and it is amazing to see how fast they grow . A eucalyptus tree is ready for harvest in 5 years and the market for eucalyptus charcoal is soaring. We have seen 27% appreciation per year in land values and the currency has doubled with respect to the dollars we brought in. As the article points out - there is still plenty of room. I would recommend a move to Brazil for anyone looking for a little adventure and an opportunity to make real money. Just make sure you do your homework first.
Evenhanded view
I really enjoyed reading this article. I think it offers a very pragmatic view of what a rising Brazil really means, for better or worse. Kudos for not caving to traditional yellow journalism!
http://pragmaticallypolitical.blogivists.com/
Brazil as a super power
This is an interesting article. I don't doubt that Brazil will become a major world player in the next 10-20 years. It's huge in both size and population and it's urban areas are becoming increasingly educated in the tech and finance fields. The production of food is going to become a bigger issue as the rest of the world (particularly China, India, and Russia) increase their demand for beef and wheat products as their incomes go up. Brazil is already the biggest producer of ethanol and also of soybeans (used primary for livestock feed). Brazilian stocks are soaring this year. Of course, Brazil is not without it's challenges. It has a huge disparity between rich and poor, rampant corruption, urban crime, and in the rural areas - lack of adequate infrastructure. This is of course, is the problem with all developing economies (China, Russia, India, Eastern Europe). Still, if they can make strides to deal with these problems Brazil may be the first South American Super power.
