Agricultura como componente da estratégia de Segurança Nacional

Abstract

Death caused by hunger may overcome the deaths derived from a conventional war. Therefore, food should be considered as a central issue of National Security of any country. However, the concept of National Security has evolved in that direction only with the end of the Cold War and with the public awareness that the global changes could exacerbate tensions related to food and water shortages. Accordingly, this monograph presents a conceptual evolution of the food issue, within the context of National Security. Initially, international concern rested on four dimensions: availability, access, stability and food consumption, i.e., Food Security. With the growth of unintended food contamination events, in the decades of 1980 and 1990, the population began to demand rules and regulations to ensure the quality of food, i.e., Food Safety. Finally, with the resurgence of terrorist actions in the early 21st century, Governments began to question the entire vulnerability of their transnational food chain, leading to the development of standards and regulations that consider the Food Defense. The situation of Brazil was faced with international scenarios outlined in order to suggest a greater attention of the Ministry of Defense with Brazilian agriculture because of its important role in the five expressions of national power. Possible threats to national agribusiness were discussed, involving: vulnerabilities to cyber-attacks, technical barriers to the export of Brazilian agricultural products, agroterrorism, land grab, dependence on external inputs and lack of strategic stocks. Some suggestions of joint actions between the Brazilian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply were presented.