Coordination of the brazilian citrus agribusiness and the new empowering resources: political and legal resources

Abstract

This work shows that the political and legal resources available to citrus farmers have become as strategic as financial, technological and organizational resources. The study presents an analysis of the Brazilian citrus business governance, which is defined by the use of different strategies among citrus farmers and processing plants: the citrus farmers and their main association use political resources, while some big juice processing plants resort to legal resources. This opposition represents a new obstacle to the achievement of positive results by citrus farmers in the current power network. Court orders demonstrate that orange supply contracts have become a fundamental empowering instrument in the sector, leading to strategic gains for the juice processing plants after four years of significant political conquests by citrus farmers, especially in Sao Paulo state.