Economia de fronteira e a territorialização do capital agroflorestal em municípios da região geográfica imediata de Acailândia, Maranhão, Brasil

Abstract

The implementation of eucalyptus forestry in Maranhão and, consequently, in the Immediate Geographic Region of Açailândia, is directly related to the Grande Carajás Project (PGC), initiated by the then Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) in the 1980s. This project, along with the creation of the Carajás Railroad (EFC), which connects Parauapebas, Pará, to the Itaqui Port, in São Luís, Maranhão, stimulated projects to produce pig iron in Açailândia, where eucalyptus was used as an energy input. However, it was in 2008, with the formalization of the Suzano Pulp and Paper industry, located in Imperatriz, Maranhão, that the eucalyptus areas in the region assumed large proportions, becoming the main raw material for pulp production. Thus, the general objective of this research is to understand the process of territorialization of agroforestry capital on land use in eucalyptus producing municipalities in the Immediate Geographic Region of Açailândia. Methodologically, it uses as spatial cut the Immediate Geographic Region of Açailândia, located in the western portion of the state of Maranhão. The research in question is structured in two stages. The first corresponds to the bibliographical research and the theoretical foundation, using authors such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, Bertha Becker and David Harvey. In addition, it systematizes and analyzes secondary data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Brazilian Tree Industry (IBÁ) and Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services (MDIC). The second stage, in addition to the literature review, includes the systematization of primary data obtained in field studies in eucalyptus producing farms and nearby communities. It also analyzes secondary data from sources such as the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA), IBGE, IBÁ, MDIC and Suzano Pulp and Paper. The results indicate that the territorialization of the agroforestry capital of eucalyptus in the Immediate Geographic Region of Açailândia has transformed the agrarian space, and this is reflected not only in changes in the vegetation cover of vast areas altered by monocultures, but also affects traditional aspects of the field, such as land uses related to traditional agricultural practices in the region, in addition to aggravating the process of land concentration on the site