Editorial: Proposing a Price Observatory in Brazil

Isabella Weber, Laura Carvalho, and JFI collaborate on a proposal to examine food price inflation

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL —JFI Senior Fellow Isabella Weber and Laura Carvalho published an editorial in the Folha de S.Paulo for which JFI’s team and researchers at UMass  contributed to the research foundation. The editorial proposes a Brazilian Food Price Observatory, modeled on a similar initiative in Spain, which would allow for an understanding of the specific drivers of food price inflation in Brazil and spur policy action in response. Price inflation has impacts not just on food security and nutrition but also on voting behavior and societal unrest; climate change will only increase volatility. An observatory to monitor prices is a key step in curbing their effects. 

From the article (originally in Portuguese):

“It’s possible to identify which foods have driven inflation in Brazil over time. More recently, beef, coffee, dairy products, and fruit have stood out. It’s still difficult to say, however, to what extent these price increases reflect rising production costs or whether they result from supply deficits, lack of competition, or widening profit margins. The explanation likely differs depending on the type of food considered—whether it’s exported, primary or processed, or whether it relies on imported inputs, for example.

“The creation of a Brazilian Food Price Observatory could help identify pressure points along food chains, contributing to the design of more targeted and effective stabilization policies. The initiative could be implemented through a partnership between Conab (National Supply Company), the Ministry of Finance, and the Central Bank. Much of the necessary data is already collected by government agencies, but it needs to be analyzed—and the results of this analysis should be made public.”

JFI’s Financing the Energy Transition team, and its Brazil experts on staff, collaborated with Isabella Weber and her team on the background research for the report, including an analysis of food prices in Brazil and a review of policy actions and options from around the globe. 

Alongside her senior fellowship position at JFI, Weber is also an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, an Associate in Research at the Fairbank Center, Harvard University, a Fellow at Roosevelt Institute and a Fellow of the Open Society Foundations Ideas Workshop. Weber’s coauthor, Laura Carvalho, is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of São Paulo and global director of Equity at Open Society Foundations.

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