Sustainability assessment: case study in Brazil

SA of Export-Led Growth in Soy Production

WWF initiated a case study to examine the impacts of liberalisation on export-led soy production in Brazil.

This case study highlights the major factors associated with growth in the sector, including the development of increasing export markets for Brazilian soy grain in Europe and elsewhere, which are leading to unprecedented intensification and expansion of production.

It assesses, from a sustainability perspective, the methods of expansion, including production practices and conversion of land for agriculture with a particular focus on the vulnerable ecosystems in the Centre-West Region of Brazil: the Cerrado, the Patanal and the Amazon.

The assessment was carried out by a team of researchers led by WWF Brazil. At critical stages in the process, multistakeholder meetings were held to review progress. On 25-26 March 2002 WWF held a workshop in Brasilia to review the first draft of the case study and on

24-25 November 2003 WWF held a second workshop in Brasilia to review the final document.

The case study, Sustainability Assessment of Export-Led Growth in Soy Production in Brazil was completed in 2003. It concludes that the soy sector in Brazil is at a critical stage in its development.

In the context of increasing efforts to liberalise agricultural trade in a number of for a, it is vital that decisions taken by the Brazilian government, both at home and in an international context, place the soy sector on a solid path to sustainability. To achieve this, the study proposes policies at the international level and at the domestic level to promote sustainability.