From the Jungles to the Metropolis: the Export Routes of Sul-Mato-Grossense Yerba-mate (Structuring, Transformations, Intermodality – 1883-1949)

Abstract

In the extreme south of the Brazilian province (later state) of Mato Grosso, the native forests of yerba mate (Ilex paraguayensis) were explored, with a view to exporting, from the late decades of the 19th century to the 1960s, Argentina always being the main market. Until the mid-20th century, most of the production came from a single company. In this work I examine the strategies of this company to enable transportation from the extraction sites to the city of Buenos Aires, where the product was processed and consumed. The research shows that the transport schemes were influenced both by the physical characteristics of the travelled regions and by the border condition of the producing area, as well as the diversity of means that were used, from human backs to railway trains. The time milestones are the formal start of the company's operations and the closure of its last lease of yerba forests. The sources are mainly documents of the company itself, statistical data, official Brazilian documentation and memorialist reports.