From Amazon Pasture to the High Street: Deforestation and the Brazilian Cattle Product Supply Chain

Abstract

Brazil has the world's highest annual area of tropical deforestation, and cattle ranching is the largest driver of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Recent domestic and international market demand for beef and leather that are not linked to deforestation led the largest Brazilian meatpackers to adopt policies to reject supplies from ranches with recent deforestation. However, increased and sustained enforcement of such policies will be needed to reduce deforestation in these supply chains over the long-term. We sought to map the Brazilian cattle product supply chain to determine the proportion of the market, and of cattle production, that may be susceptible to market demands for deforestation-free supplies. Beef, leather and live animal exports are the most valuable products from the cattle industry, with export values tripling between 2001 and 2009, and with China, Russia and the U.S. as the largest importing countries. The markets for dairy and tallow (beef fat) are predominantly domestic. We find that around 40% of beef and 85% of leather production serve markets that have expressed concerns over environmental impacts of their purchases, while the clandestine market, which is not susceptible to market environmental demands, is estimated to comprise about one quarter of the Brazilian cattle slaughter. Demand for Brazilian cattle products is growing, and while market-driven efforts to reduce deforestation linked to legal slaughter have shown success, improved governance and other measures will be needed to tackle the environmental impacts of the clandestine industry.

Land-use and climate change risks in the Amazon and the need of a novel sustainable development paradigm

“…Moreover, in terms of development policy pathways for the Amazon, two modes have historically dominated: (i) a valuable nature conservation approach with large swathes of territory legally protected from any economic and human activity outside indigenous peoples and (ii) an approach that has focused on conversion or degradation of forests for the production of either protein commodities or tropical timber at the forest frontier and the build-out of massive hydropower generation capacity-which, together, have been historically responsible for massive deforestation of the Amazon (30,31) and generated other significant negative externalities. We argue therefore that there is a "Third Way" within reach that sees the Amazon as a global public good of biological assets and biomimetic designs that can enable the creation of innovative high-value products, services, and platforms for current and for entirely new markets.…”

“…Third Way as Paradigm of Sustainable Development for the Amazon In terms of development policy pathways for the Amazon, two modes have historically dominated: (i) a valuable nature conservation approach with large swathes of territory legally protected from any economic and human activity outside indigenous peopleswhich comprise 2.1 million km 2 , or about 43% of Brazilian Amazon (153,163,164); and (ii) an approach that has focused on conversion or degradation of forests for the production of either protein commodities (e.g., meat and soya) or tropical timber at the forest frontier and the build-out of massive hydropower generation capacity-which together have been historically responsible for massive deforestation of the Amazon (30,31) and generated other significant negative externalities.…”

“…This sharp decline of deforestation was enabled by several factors, including purpose-built satellite monitoring capabilities, effective law enforcement and compliance, industry value chain initiatives like the soy moratorium, restrictions on access to credit for farms located in deforested areas, and expansion of protected areas and indigenous territory encompassing 47% of the entire Brazilian Amazon region (37). Long-term-demand growth for agricultural commodities in the emerging markets, weak institutions, and large energy infrastructure projects may potentially contribute as underlying and proximate drivers to the return of high deforestation rates in the absence of alternative development pathways (27,30,(38)(39)(40).…”

Property Arrangements and Soy Governance in the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso: Implications for Deforestation-Free Production

“…Integration of soy production by cattle ranchers is likely to expand due to declining profitability as the increasingly consolidated meatpacking industry pays lower prices for cattle and pasture recuperation costs remain high [57][58][59]. The zero-deforestation cattle agreements also add pressure to reduce deforestation and may encourage a turn toward the more profitable co-production of soy [56].…”

Reducing Deforestation and Enhancing Sustainability in Commodity Supply Chains: Interactions between Governance Interventions and Cattle Certification in Brazil

“…Calves are often sold to large fattening farms through informal mechanisms: in auctions or by traders. This informality means that there is little control of the source origin of cattle, and it remains a challenge to know whether calves were raised in illegally deforested properties, particularly because slaughterhouses are often not in direct contact with these properties [26].…”