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

Abstract

A large number of governance interventions are being developed in order to reduce deforestation and enhance the sustainability of commodity supply chains across the tropics. The extent to which individual agricultural commodity supply chain interventions can achieve scale, and environmental or social objectives, depends in part on the ways in which those interventions interact with other interventions. We use a casestudy of the new Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) cattle certification program in Brazil to explore the different ways in which governance interventions interact. We examine the broad landscape of policies and programs that affect sustainability in the cattle supply chain in Brazil, and assess whether such interventions support or constrain the scaling up of the SAN cattle program. We conducted semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders from government, private sector, and civil society organizations. We found that multiple interventions are acting in a complementary manner to enhance sustainability and therefore enable the scaling up of the SAN program, by aiding compliance with environmental laws, adoption of good production practices, and improved monitoring. At the same time, limited development, implementation, and complementarity of some interventions could be antagonistic to the SAN program's expansion because they maintain a context in which many actors operate far below the sustainability criteria required by the program. Our holistic approach enables us to identify specific gaps in the complex landscape of governance interventions in Brazil. Greater strategic complementarity and coordination between interventions may catalyze a more coherent and effective pathway to reduced deforestation and enhanced sustainability. RESUMOUm grande número de iniciativas está sendo desenvolvida nos trópicos afim de contribuir com a redução do desmatamento e de aumentar a sustentabilidade das cadeias de commodities. O aumento de escala e os impactos sociais e ambientais dessas iniciativas dependem em parte de como elas interagem entre si. A partir do estudo de caso do programa de certificação Rede de Agricultura Sustentável (RAS) no Brasil, nós exploramos como esta e outras intervenções interagem. Nós examinamos uma gama de políticas e programas que afetam a sustentabilidade na cadeia da pecuária, e avaliamos se e como tais iniciativas apoiam ou são um obstáculo para o aumento de escala do programa SAN. Para tal, realizamos entrevistas semiestruturadas com atores do setor público, privado e da sociedade civil. Grande parte das iniciativas levantadas agem de forma complementar para aumentar a sustentabilidade na cadeia e ampliar a adoção da certificação SAN, já que contribuem com o aumento da conformidade das propriedades com leis ambientais; promovem a adoção de boas práticas agropecuárias; e melhoram o monitoramento. Ao mesmo tempo, má gestão e implementação de iniciativas e a falta de complementariedade entre elas podem ser antagônicas à expansão do programa SAN. Nossa abordagem holística ...

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