The business case for a landscape approach to sustainable beef production in Brazil
This study (PDF) by IDH provides a business case for a landscape approach to sustainable beef production in Brazil. Cattle ranch São Marcelo is seeking to support the increase in production of sustainable, zero-deforestation, traceable beef in order to meet customer demand for such products. It does so by engaging in a landscape approach via the Produce, Conserve, Include (PCI) Regional Compact, that seeks to transform the region into a verified sourcing area for cattle and family agriculture products, through public and private partnership and engagement, generating income for the local population while conserving forests. Developing the Compact involves four key stages: 1) the scoping phase to collect baseline information; 2) the coalition building phase to engage key stakeholders; 3) building blocks for the compacts are established; 4) the PCI compact is signed by the coalition. The coalition works on increasing cattle production and sales, conservation/protection of forests and promising solutions on land tenure issues and supporting family agriculture value chains. Building this verified sourcing landscape has the potential to attract potential investors. Involvement of São Marcelo in PCI will engage the company directly with state government to align with activities and legislation around deforestation at state level. Furthermore, a strong buyer-seller relationships has been established, not only on quality but also on conserving forest and promoting inclusion. Participation in the Compact also resulted in key commercial opportunities, for example by satisfying unmet customer demand for sustainable beef. But also by achieving higher prices and securing new buyers due to market position as verified sourcing region for sustainable beef products. Moreover, it increases profitability trough differentiation based on quality and increases capacity and in turn increase volume of sales of certified beef.