Ranching and Market Access in the Backlands: Mato Grosso, Brazil, ca. 1900-1940s.

Abstract

For decades, economic historians of Latin America have studied the raw material to explain the nature of international commercial connections in the region. However, very few have focused on stockbreeding. The authors propose that this lack of interest is related to the characteristics of stockbreeding regions. For example, by examining the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, one can observe that the difficulties to enter the market are directly related to a combination of contradictory priorities, inefficiencies, and preconceived ideas. The authors conclude that this lack of dynamism hides transformations that significantly impacted other stoc-kbreeding regions, which deserve more attention at a time when the effects of tropical stockbreeding are capturing the public's attention.

Keywords

• Mato Grosso
• 1900-1940
• stockbreeding
• transportation
• cattle breeds
• zebu.