Strategic analysis of the milk production sector in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract

In Brazil, milk is one of the most important agricultural products, essential for generating employment and income in the field and for human consumption. Knowing the potential and limitations of the sector can contribute to technical, economic and political improvements. The present study carried out a strategic analysis of the milk production sector in Rio Grande do Sul, demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses found in the internal environment, as well as the opportunities and threats found in the external environment. The data were obtained from bibliographic research on the main scientific publishing platforms and was based on the analysis tool SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). As a result, the main strengths of the sector are related to the flexibility of milk production systems, family labor, guaranteed monthly income, commercialization possibilities and agroindustrialization. The main weaknesses are poorly qualified labor, difficulties in implementing technologies, low profit margin per unit produced, difficulties in the family succession process. The opportunities are agricultural policies, demand growth and qualified technical assistance. As threats stand out the instability of prices and costs, lack of specific policies for the sector and competition with other countries. It is concluded that the SWOT analysis allows a better understanding of the sector, providing subsidies for agents of the milk production chain and the public authorities to outline strategies that take advantage of the strengths and opportunities of the sector, correcting weaknesses and circumventing threats.