Câmara Setorial da Cadeia Produtiva do Açúcar e do Álcool: estratégias e apoio à formulação de políticas públicas

Abstract

The sugarcane production chain has played an important role in the Brazilian economy since the colonial period, initially standing out in sugar production and, more recently, in the production of sugar and alcohol (currently referred to as ethanol). Brazil has established itself as the world's largest sugarcane producer, with the 2025/26 harvest reaching 673,283.8 thousand tons. This research aims to analyze how the Sectoral Chamber of the Sugar and Alcohol Production Chain (CSCPA) contributes to the formulation of public policies that promote the sustainability and competitiveness of this activity in Brazil, using a New Institutional Economics (NIE) approach. The study investigates how the agents within this production chain articulate strategies and influence political decision-making to strengthen the sector. Methodologically, the research is characterized as qualitative and employs multiple approaches: a systematic literature review of articles presenting empirical evidence on topics relevant to the CSCPA; Content Analysis (CA) of the minutes of its meetings, used to categorize and interpret data and documents; and Discourse Analysis (DA) of interviews conducted with sector representatives participating in the CSCPA, enabling an understanding of how discourses are constructed and disseminated within society in their historical, social, and ideological contexts, as well as allowing the exploration of both explicit and implicit meanings present in the interviewees' statements. The results suggest that the representatives of the links composing the CSCPA construct, through their discourses, a narrative that legitimizes specific priorities, such as sustainability, technological innovation, and bioenergy, while simultaneously framing the challenges faced by this production chain and guiding possible solutions. Thus, strategies function as discursive practices that articulate technical knowledge and political action, transforming sectoral demands into institutionally viable proposals. This dual institutional and discursive dimension reveals that the CSCPA's contribution to public policy formulation goes beyond a merely consultative role, establishing it as an active space for the co-production of public policy.