Photograph: Alberto Cesar/Greenpeace
Brief History of Modern Soybean Production in Brazil:
Brazilian soybean production was initiated due to the Soviet crop failure of 1972 when crop prices increased dramatically. In reaction to this, America placed an embargo on soybean exports to save the domestic food economy. This caused Japan, a major soybean importer, to find another country to import from. Brazil viewed this as an opportunity and began to produce soybeans. Throughout the following decades Brazil grew as one of the largest producers of soybeans and in 2013 narrowly eclipsed America as the leading producer of soybeans.
New farmland in Brazil comes from the Amazon Basin and the Cerrado which are incredibly biodiverse and traps an astonishing quantity of carbon. This means that when these areas are converted into farmland or pastures there is a great loss of biodiversity and an increase in carbon emissions which affects the entire world by assisting climate change. In addition, the Amazon and Cerrado play an important role in releasing the world’s O2 and the hydrological cycle by recycling water into the continental interior which allows for a sufficient supply of water for many countries in South America.
Since 1970, around 19 percent of the Amazon basin has been converted into farmland and the Cerrado has lost nearly half of its land to this enterprise. In the Amazon, cattle ranchers will push further and further into the Amazon in order to clear new land for their cattle after old land has been exasperated. Farmers then purchase the land the ranchers leave behind.
Soybean Demand:
Soybean demand is being driven by a variety of factors including rapid population growth and the growing demand for more meat as people move up the food chain. When meat is in higher demand, soybean production increases because soybeans are the main ingredient of livestock feed as it efficiently converts into animal protein. This has caused an incredible increase in soybean consumption worldwide and has led to agriculture mirroring the demand. In order to satisfy growing demands, more soybeans must be planted and the cultivation area must be expanded.
Solution:
Progress has been made in order to preserve the Amazon basin. For instance, much of the soybean production has been moved into Brazil’s major agricultural frontier which allowed for deforestation to be slowed dramatically while simultaneously allowing soybean production to increase rapidly. Additionally, government initiatives were used such as a satellite monitoring system to know exactly when and where deforestation occurred which deterred illegal deforestation efforts. Environmental groups were also putting pressure on soybean buyers to only buy from ethically produced soybeans. The Amazon is affected due to driving worldwide demand for animal products. In order to curb this affect the world’s population must be stabilized and the demand for meat lessened.
One solution to the soybean problem is to simply consume less meat. As more people become vegetarian, vegan or even just cut their meat consumption, the meat demand will fall and soybean production will decrease as well. This will, in effect, stop the Amazon and the Cerrado from being targeted for their fertile land and human contribution to global warming will lessen.
