Policies for agriculture in the Legal Amazon: analysis of agreements signed between the Union and subnational entities

Abstract

The article analyzes the voluntary transfers of resources of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and food supply (MAPA), between 2008 and 2022, through agreements with subnational entities in Amazon Region. The data used were obtained from the Federal Government's Transferegov platform and content analysis techniques were applied. The study considered theories on voluntary resource transfers, public policy instruments, and governmental changes. The results reveal that, during the period analyzed, the National Congress became the main funder of agreements directed to the Legal Amazon, while the Executive Branch reduced its participation. Furthermore, significant changes were observed in the objectives of the investments. On one hand, there was a decrease in resources destined to the training of farmers, policies for women and quilombolas, and on the other hand, there was an increase in the direction of investments in agricultural machinery. The research concludes that the Brazilian institutional arrangement allows agreements to be used as a way to allocate resources according to political interests. The study advocates a more active role for the Executive as coordinator of the resource distribution process.

Keywords:
resource transfers; covenants; public policy; agriculture and livestock; parliamentary amendments