Property Rights and the Soybean Revolution: Shaping How China and Brazil Are Telecoupled

Abstract

China currently has the largest population in the world and is currently experiencing rapid economic and urban growth, becoming the world's number one pork and poultry consumer. In order to meet this growing demand for meat, China has increased its demand for soybeans to produce chicken and pork. It has imported soybeans from the United States, Brazil, and Argentina, while keeping its soybean production for direct human consumption stable at home. Brazil has become the largest soybean exporter to China, and, in response specifically to Chinese demand, has become the second largest producer of soybeans in the world. This has changed land use in Brazil, particularly in its central plateau. In this paper, we indicate how these two countries, telecoupled by trade in soybeans, are depending on each other as they try to balance environmental and economic objectives. Brazil, as a sending system, has created pressures on its natural ecosystems, which have led to losses particularly in the Cerrado biome and its ecotones in the Amazon's tropical moist forest biome. China, as a receiving system, has created a land asset important to regenerating its lost natural systems (e.g., forest cover areas). Both countries have different property rights regimes, which have created distinct circumstances in which they are to protect or regenerate their natural ecosystems.Throughout this paper, we analyze how both countries have dealt with the lure offered by the soybean commodity trade.

Evolution of multiple global virtual material flows

“…However, international trade also displaces environmental burdens such as CO 2 and nitrogen emissions via natural capital transfers. For example, importing food has allowed China to become a global leader in carbon sequestration since its CO 2 emissions from deforestation are displaced to distant, exporting countries such as Brazil (Torres et al, 2017). CO 2 plays a major role in global warming, and nitrogen emissions pose various threats to environmental and human health such as biodiversity loss, stratospheric ozone depletion and chronic respiratory and heart disease (Kampa and Castanas, 2008;Erisman et al, 2013).…”

Mapping the impacts of farmed Scottish salmon from a life cycle perspective

“…The study also highlights the need for balance between use of marine and terrestrial ingredients, and their resulting environmental impacts, in driving feed formulation for commodity food products such as farmed Atlantic salmon. The implications for global trade in food ingredients on policies supporting environmental restoration and conservation in both producer and consumer countries are also important, as has been noted for the telecoupled Brazil-China soybean trade (Torres et al 2017) …”

“…Efforts to replace marine ingredients, which are regarded as being highly limited (Naylor et al 2009;Ziegler et al 2016), have resulted in greater substitutions of vegetable-based proteins, especially those derived from soybean which is critical for many European livestock feeds (FAO 2006), including for aquaculture (FAO 2006;Torrisen et al 2011). The vast majority of European-sourced soybean meals and concentrates are also from South America and have been connected to environmental concerns around deforestation of sensitive habitats for agricultural expansion (FAO 2006;Robinson et al 2011;Tritsch and Arvor 2016;da Costa et al 2017).…”

Soybean supply chain management and sustainability: A systematic literature review

“…No Torres et al (2017) In this paper, the authors indicate how China and Brazil, telecoupled by trade in soybeans, are depending on each other as they try to balance environmental and economic objectives. Brazil, as a sending system, has created pressures on its natural ecosystems, which have led to losses particularly in the Cerrado biome and its ecotones in the Amazon's tropical moist forest biome.…”