+ 55 21 2224-8577 – Extension 218
sergioleite@ufrrj.br

Professor Leite holds a doctorate in economics from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). He did an international postdoctoral exchange in social sciences at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris, and in sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), where he was also a visiting scholar. He has taught as a visiting professor at various universities in Brazil (Federal University of Lavras, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, and State University of Santa Cruz/Bahia) and abroad (EHESS and University of Toulouse, France, the National University of San Martin in Argentina, and Universidad de la Republica in Uruguay).

He coordinates the Observatory on Public Policies for Agriculture (OPPA) and the Study Group on Social Change, Agribusiness, and Public Policy (GEMAP).

He is the director of the Center for Advanced Studies (CEA) at UFRRJ, and serves as a scientific advisor to research development agencies including CAPES, CNPq, FAPERJ, FAPESP, FAPEMAT, and FUNCAP. He is also a researcher and/or consultant for non-governmental organizations (Ibase, INESC, Oxfam International, etc.) and multilateral bodies (IICA, FAO/UN).

His experience spans social sciences, economics, sociology, and political science, with emphasis on agrarian economics, rural sociology, public policies, rural development, political economy, and the sociology of development.

His studies and research focus on the following topics: the Brazilian agrarian question, family agriculture, agrarian reform, rural settlements, modernization of agriculture, rural development, public policies for agriculture, the expansion of agribusiness, land ownership structure, and the land market.

He is a CNPq Research Productivity Scholar and researcher with the Brazilian National Institute of Science and Technology in Public Policies, Strategies, and Development (INCT-PPED).

He is also a member of the French Academy of Agriculture, and coordinated the Brazilian research team within the scope of CAPES/COFECUB (2013–2015).