Bárbara Anna Willaarts,Insa Niemeyer,Alberto Garrido, Water Observatory- Botín Foundation, , bwillaarts@gmail.com
Abstract
The increasing international demand of feed crops for livestock production has made Brazil one of the world´s leading soybean producers and exporters. This paper reviews the trends in water and land requirements needed to produce Brazilian soybean over the decade (2002‐2008), and attempts to evaluate the main environmental impacts ascribed to its growing production and exportation. We applied the concepts of land and water footprints and we examined the statistical relationship between soybean expansion and the observed deforestation trends. During the period of investigation, Brazilian soybean production increased by 30% and exports grew by 22%, with the EU‐27 and China accounting for 80% of the total exports. Today, 33% of the Brazil's total agricultural land is allocated to the cultivation of this oilseed, and this share will most likely increase as the international demand continues rising. The largest expansion has occurred in the Central‐Western states. This regional specialization has contributed to create a more efficient production system by reducing the soybean water and land footprints. However, this regional trend has become the largest driver of current deforestation within the “cerrado” area. Contrary to those who argue that soya expansion is also an indirect driver of Amazon forest clearing, we did not find such relationship. Rather, the large increase in livestock production within Brazil explains Amazon deforestation. Therefore, global markets forces are to a large extent an important explanatory factor of modern deforestation across Brazil, but the increased national demand for meat products represents also a large risk.
Keywords: Water and Land Footprint, Deforestation, Agricultural trade