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This research examines the impact of governance structures within the Brazilian pork supply chain on the necessary controls for exportation. Specifically, the goal is to unravel the intricacies of this supply chain and decode its complexity.

Using transaction cost economics as a theoretical lens, we surveyed the main bodies responsible for the export and quality assurance sectors of Brazilian organizations that trade and export pork. Our sample comprises 53.5% of the country’s pork exporting companies during the period analyzed.

The presence of vertical and horizontal governance structures in the pork export chain stands out. While the vertical structure enables greater control due to command relations, there are trust and cooperation relations in the horizontal structure. This makes it possible to establish mechanisms to control health, quality, safety and traceability in both structures. We also identified each company’s characteristics: formation configuration (if the cooperative, publicly traded company, or other modality), capital stock, location, the average daily slaughter of pigs for export and sows per producer. We conclude that the organizations have concerns related to the food safety programs, as there are programs that seek transparency throughout the process in many supply chain stages.

Studies that relate the level of orientation to the export market with the occurrence or risk of corrupt and opportunistic behavior and the coordination mechanisms adopted may represent an interesting and important opportunity for studies.

This study helps to understand the complexity of the Brazilian pork supply chain.

The purpose of this paper is to present the evolution of Brazilian food patterns, based on the 2002-2003 and 2008-2009 Brazilian Household Budget Surveys (POFs), and to evaluate similarities in food acquisition among the Brazilian states, in search for the main drivers of the changes.

Using the data gathered from the 17 food groups within the POFs and multidimensional scaling, the Brazilian states were divided into groups and analysed according to their similarities in terms of annual per capita household food acquisition.

The study’s results point to five groups with similarities in terms of food acquisition among the Brazilian states. Additionally, the issues that reflect Brazil’s diversity were discussed, highlighting possible factors that caused the movement of some states between groups during the analysis period. The heterogeneity observed in food acquisition in Brazil emphasises Brazilian agribusiness development and underscores the influence of the food supply chains on the regional food patterns.

This research presents the geographic changes in the Brazilian agribusiness, and how these changes are reflected in the population food patterns and in the heterogeneity in food acquisition among the Brazilian states. Concerning this work, supply chains of agri-industrial products focussed on the domestic market can be analysed in depth, offering guidelines for future research in logistics and agri-industrial economy.

The purpose of this paper is to present an alternative viewpoint to better manage the global natural resources using the case of soybean international market as a baseline and water as the natural resource, although the product and natural resource could be any other.

The case of Brazilian soya production and the international soybean market was used to illustrate the commodities and agricultural use of water, a global and finite natural resource. The water footprint analysis was applied to balance the international water trade associated to soybean exportation.

The net water balance indicates that Brazil is more efficient in the water use to soybean production considering water origin (types of water) and availability. That implies a benefit for soybean importers from Brazil who does not internalize this natural input in the cost of their products.

The alternatives proposed and discussed in this essay are far from being complete and definitive. The details of their implications are beyond the scope and purpose of this essay. However, it may be the starting point for a wider academic and political debate.

There are externalities in the soybean market that are generating environmental and social costs. Those costs could be minimized by a fair international market that internalizes the costs of using finite natural resources. For that, adequate public policies should be designed, implemented and maintained. The monetary funds obtained from internalization of costs in water use could be addressed to research devoted to enlarge the water saving practices.

From a discussion about the fundamental role of natural resources in the maintenance of mankind life and the implications of its irrational use, a global governance of natural resources is being proposed. As practical actions for global governance, a green soybean, marketed under a water seal, has been discussed.