My guest today is Dr. Antonio Cabrera Mano Filho, 63 years old, former Minister of Agriculture, was a consultant for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and a businessman with 24 properties spread across five states of the Union.
He is the son and grandson of Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese immigrants connected to the land.
He was born and spent his entire childhood on a farm in the São José do Rio Preto region, in the interior of São Paulo, son of Antonio Cabrera and Dora Carvalho, with three brothers: Mauricio, Ben Hur, and Alexandre, and one sister, Dora Marcia.
Dr. Antonio is a veterinarian with a postgraduate degree in animal nutrition in India. He married Angela at the age of 33, with whom he built his life alongside their four children: Barbara, Antonio, Vitoria, and Giovana.
Aryane Garcia: During your adolescence, did you ever imagine being in the position you are in today?
Cabrera: I have always liked the countryside and always imagined being a farmer. But I never imagined I would hold the position of Minister of Agriculture. This was a pleasant surprise that God ended up offering.
AG: Still in your childhood, which artists influenced you that have now lost relevance with the digital revolution and the advent of the internet?
Cabrera: As a child, I watched a TV series called “Bonanza” that showed the difficulties of life on a farm. Over time, I enjoyed root sertanejo music, like Tião Carreiro and Pardinho, Chitãozinho & Xororó, and Sérgio Reis. Among them, Sergio Reis remains unbeatable.
AG: After years of learning, does becoming a recognized professional in your field bring you work-related advantages to opine in other areas/companies in the sector?
Cabrera: Yes, all recognition is very welcome. And Brazilian agribusiness is fascinating. Today, we are one of the largest food producers in the world, using only 8% of the territory for agriculture. We have the largest bioinputs program in the world, the only Low Carbon Agriculture program in the world, the largest fossil fuel substitution program, the largest program for using microorganisms for nitrogen fixation in the world, the only one with a Forest Code, we are also the country that recycles the most empty packaging in the field (90%), and we have the largest forest reserve on the planet.
AG: Among your productive habits during the week, are there principles you have adapted that you now advise your other collaborators and younger colleagues?
Cabrera: Waking up early, having a positive view of work, organization, and respect for your collaborators.
AG: What is your outlook on Brazil’s economic situation over the last 20, 10, and 5 years?
Cabrera: Few countries in the world have had a performance like Brazil in the last 20 years. Agribusiness exports from 2020 to 2022 increased by 60%: from 100 to 160 billion dollars during the pandemic. In the 2000s, Brazilian agribusiness exported $20 billion. In 2022, it was $160 billion, eight times more in 22 years. Which country has done that? The first time we produced 100 million tons of grains was in 2001. It took us 500 years to get there. Fourteen years later, in 2015, we produced 200 million, and this year, eight years later, over 300 million tons of grains.
AG: Of the various difficulties and opportunities you encountered throughout your career, does being part of agribusiness, the most profitable sector in Brazil, help you understand the social situation of the country? What are your plans to help include more young people and women in the sector?
Cabrera: Yes, Brazil is the only country in the world that has the name of a tree, and this shows our natural vocation for agriculture. And through agribusiness, we can give a huge boost to the country’s industrialization by promoting agro-industry in our segment. The dynamism of the sector generates many jobs, and today we have a population of young people in the countryside that no other major producer has in the world. This is reason to see a better future. If I were to give advice to young people, I would say: study, work, and marry. These three steps in life are the right recipe for a more prosperous life.
AG: Your daily and active participation with economic statistics of agribusiness gives you a variety of growth opportunities. In your opinion, how will agribusiness stay strong in the coming years – according to your area of expertise?
Cabrera: I see our future with optimism, despite the setbacks we still have in Brazil. More and more people are leaving poverty in the world, especially in Asia, and changing their lives. This increase in income causes a change in dietary habits, decreasing the consumption of plant proteins and increasing animal proteins. This ensures a future for Brazilian producers who will increasingly be responsible for feeding these new mouths that are being born.
AG: According to your experience, on a global level, does agribusiness face challenges in communicating its importance in the entire production chain?
Cabrera: Yes, we still need to tell our story better. Brazil has the largest environmental asset, but we are still the ones who suffer the most from criticism on the international stage. We need to communicate better with our end consumer, especially in Europe. In this continent, the Brazilian farmer is still a distinguished unknown.
AG: How to convince society that agribusiness is not the main responsible for global warming? What news or headline should be debunked for having falsely harmed the sector?
Cabrera: With science and truth. These eventual detractors of Brazilian agribusiness will have to adjust their beliefs to the impressive evidence of the sustainability of our agricultural production. But we also have to be realistic, as this campaign against agribusiness will not stop: Brazil has grown, taken markets from other countries, and we will increasingly see a supposed “environmental battle” disguised more as a campaign to protect our competitors. And the biggest fake news we have today is about the destruction of the Amazon. Agribusiness is thousands of kilometers away from the Amazon rainforest, and we are not destroying this admirable heritage of future generations.
AG: The popularity of rural producers is at risk; what would be the reasons for the demonization of the ruralist composition?
Cabrera: Today I understand that the biggest concern of the Brazilian producer is with the government itself. At times, I think we are sleeping with the enemy. It’s a shame, but the current government seems to see agribusiness as an enemy to be defeated. Just look at its latest actions or statements: Temporal Framework, Rural Insurance.
AG: Who are the biggest names in Brazilian agribusiness that influenced your life, and who are the main ones in the world that changed your vision and dynamics to blaze the trail?
Cabrera: Professor Malavolta and Minister Alysson Paolineli. The latter, along with immigrants from the south of the country, opened up the Brazilian cerrado and transformed us into what we are today.
AG: The guiding thread of agribusiness success is the economy; do you think it is possible for Brazil to decrease purchasing power and go through an economic recession? How can Brazil shield itself from a food crisis?
Cabrera: If we continue on this path, I believe the next three years will be difficult years. Not that we will have a food crisis, as Brazil has enough production to fill the shelves of its supermarkets. But because of the wrong political path we are taking. Look, the recently approved tax reform, according to a recent study, will increase taxes for 93% of companies. And who will pay this cost, unfortunately, will be the end consumer.
AG: If you could create some social rules that favor the productive dynamics of agribusiness and the Brazilian people, what would your proposed laws be?
Cabrera: What Brazilian agribusiness needs most today is freedom. Freedom to explore its fertilizer deposits, freedom to use the three Mississippis we have (Madeira, Araguaia-Tocantins, and Teles Pires-Arinos-Tapajós), freedom to build the Ferrogrão (which is being halted by a decision from Minister Alexandre de Moraes), and so on.
AG: Of the various actions that accelerate Brazil’s growth, what is the greatest contribution that this generation can deliver that will impact the next 30 years?
Cabrera: I believe that this current generation of young people is confirming that Brazil is the future: we will be major food producers within a carbon-neutral economy or environmental economy that will be the most important in all of Brazil’s history, greater than any other economic cycle we have ever had.
AG: If you could choose a Brazilian city to live in until the last day of your life, which would it be and why?
Cabrera: São José do Rio Preto. Here I was born, married, raised my children, and here I intend to finish my “good fight,” God willing.
Connect with our interviewee through his Instagram: @fe.trabalho and learn more about his legacy through the website www.grupocabrera.com.br