Brazilian agriculture still faces sustainability challenges, experts say

Brazilian agriculture has made progress in tracing production and curbing deforestation, but experts say the country’s most powerful economic sector still has a long way to go before it becomes genuinely sustainable.

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The monoculture and export-driven model is increasingly showing its limits.

The assessment emerged at the IV Latin American Green Economy Forum in São Paulo, where government and nongovernmental specialists described a sector with both advances and serious gaps. Thiago Reis, who leads WWF-Brazil’s strategy on deforestation- and conversion-free markets, said the country’s monoculture and export-driven model was increasingly showing its limits.

Brazil has introduced projects to trace cattle and crops, aiming to prevent deforestation and protect sanitary standards. The 2006 soy moratorium, signed by major grain traders to stop purchases from deforested areas, helped sharply reduce clearing in the Amazon, according to the discussion. Gabriel Chelis of Brazil’s export promotion agency, APEX, said the sector had worked to improve traceability and meet international market demands.

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The sector has made an effort toward traceability, environmentally sound use and meeting international market demands.

But the progress remains uneven. The European Union suspended Brazilian beef imports over antibiotic use, and soybean trading companies withdrew from the moratorium this year. Eduardo Trevisan, certification director at the NGO Imaflora, said cocoa is fully traceable while the soybean supply chain remains far behind. The return of El Niño, which raises temperatures and reduces rainfall in the Amazon region, adds pressure to farms and ranches.

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The forest is an asset of Brazil, and we must learn from the technology of Indigenous peoples.

Reis argued that part of the answer lies within the Amazon itself, which he called “Brazil’s bioeconomy farm” because of its native plants and products such as açaí, cacao and guaraná. Indigenous communities have cultivated these products for generations, he said, and Brazil should learn from their knowledge. Trevisan backed certifications and labels for producers using good practices, saying they could help protect them from sanitary barriers. Experts also said sustainability solutions must extend beyond national borders and be developed regionally.

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They are tools to protect producers from possible sanitary barriers and send a message.