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This policy brief summarizes findings from an emerging portfolio of research by Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) on the role rural credit plays in Brazil. CPI analysts determined that rural credit makes a significant difference in raising agricultural productivity and improving land use. They show that an increase in rural credit lending leads to improvements across a number of agricultural indicators, including municipal crop production, agricultural GDP, total municipal GDP, cropland productivity, and rural worker crop productivity. The analysts conclude that lack of financial resources often limits farmers’ production possibilities in Brazil. Improved credit access allows producers to make new decisions that lead to higher productivity.