AGRO - the Brazilian AG Brand to Agribusiness

In Brazil, seven out of ten Brazilians view agribusiness positively. Seven out of ten also associate agribusiness with wealth generation, and two out of three Brazilians associate it with credibility. This is exuberant!

However, there is a significant group of people who have a negative view of agribusiness. And those who see the sector's demerits in greater proportion are those under 29 years old. Therefore, the youth! But not only them. Two out of five in the adult group (30 to 59 years old) consider agribusiness one of the main sectors responsible for environmental impacts.

These data were obtained from a thorough study conducted by a first-rate team, a joint effort of academics and market professionals. Nearly five thousand people were interviewed across Brazil. In this well-delineated survey, it was possible to capture the soul of what Brazilians think about the most dynamic sector of our economy. And the orange light was turned on!

After all, it is the youth who define the consumption pattern. And when young people reach adulthood, they begin to decide the direction of society in terms of production as well, as they take on decision-making positions. What leads the youth to be critical of agribusiness?

I am in my sixties, and my generation is the parents of these young people. The collective imagination of my generation was marked by the idea of backward, poor, and unimpressive agribusiness. Many of us passed this image on to our children. The message was: the countryside does not retain interesting people. I am from a region of Brazil that symbolizes all this and has bet on industry, to the detriment of the countryside.

Since 1500, Brazil has been at a distance of only 500 km from the coast, from north to south. The urbanization that occurred from JK's time did not change this scenario. On the contrary, it accentuated the population concentration on the coast.

However, four decades ago, the Cerrado region began to emerge as a new vector of spatial reorganization. Now, Agro production is not in the urban-industrial east, but in the center, going west. There is a vast spatial distance between where Agro is produced and where Agro is consumed. Two worlds, two distinct cultures.

Therefore, for the good of our society, it is necessary to act! It is necessary to educate the coastal dwellers, responsible for electing our rulers. We need to have the goal of educating those with the characteristics of the young people of Florianopolis, the persona that most abhors Agro, due to lack of knowledge. But how to act?

The Brazilian Association of Rural and Agricultural Marketing - ABMRA conducted the research with the data I present and decided to react to the results found. ABMRA launched, at the end of April, a well-structured initiative aimed at speaking to the urban public, young or not, about what Agro is.

ABMRA is a non-profit entity, created 45 years ago, which brings together renowned and respected professionals, all connected to communication vehicles, advertising agencies or Agro companies, as well as professionals from universities and research agencies. It is, therefore, the intelligence of marketing and communication in the sector. They are all volunteers!

So, what ABMRA is proposing is to erase (what an old expression!) the discourse that says that "Agro only speaks to those who are in Agro." This is vital for the Brazilian economy. After all, who pays for imported insulin and antibiotics are the dollars captured by Agro. The royalties from branded tennis and the dollar remittance from Spotify and Netflix as well! But the young person does not know!

A robust advertising campaign is planned, aimed at reaching the urban public, not only the young, but from children to adults. The purpose is to create a national passion for this sector, which begins before the farm and reaches our homes, through the supermarket, the pharmacy, the clothing store, furniture and the gas station.

For the "Marca Agro do Brasil" campaign to be successful, we all need to support it by donating resources. What about a penny per liter of milk produced?

by Paulo do Carmo Martins - Economist, master's and PhD in applied economics. Embrapa researcher, professor at FACC/UFJF. Advisor at ABMRA.