Land-ownership structure in Bahia, Brazil: an analysis from the perspective of the Gini Index

Abstract

High concentration of the ownership of land is a phenomenon explained by the agrarian history of Brazil. The possession and use of land in Bahia, and throughout Brazil, reveal the antagonism produced by the relationship between the peasants and a dominant class composed by the landowners, involving subordination, expropriation, and exploitation. In this context, this study analyzes the land-ownership structure in place in Bahia, with the aid of the Gini Index (GI) for the land and the spatial clustering technique, from data of censuses 2006 and 2017 for the 417 municipalities of Bahia. According to the GI results obtained and the classification applied, it was identified a significant land concentration in Bahia, albeit with a moderate reduction between 2006 and 2017. According to the spatial analysis, clusters with high land concentration are mostly found in the municipalities within the Região Geográfica Intermediária de Barreiras (as the region is named by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE). Clusters of municipalities with low GI values, on the other hand, are found in Região Geográfica Intermediária de Guanambi and Região Geográfica Intermediária Vitória da Conquista. The analysis shows a correlation between land-ownership concentration and the socioeconomic condition of the regions.

Keywords:  Land concentration; Agrarian profile; Clusters