This research aims to investigate the policy trade-offs that Brazilian state deputies face in agricultural governance between increasing food security and economic growth, and environmental and public health concerns. Understanding this relationship is important for ensuring that some of the most vulnerable people who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods are protected while limiting the harmful public health effects of pesticides and fertilizer agri-chemicals.
My work will address this important issue in two novel ways: (1) estimating the effect of three agribusiness lobbying efforts for state elections on crop production and agricultural GDP and (2) estimating the effect of those three agribusiness lobbying mechanisms on statewide low birth weight (LBW) rates, which are consistently linked as a major concern and indicator of agri-chemical exposure in the epidemiological literature.