Land Use Transition, Food Systems, and Bioeconomics

Land Use Transition, Food Systems, and Bioeconomy

Brazil is one of the global leaders in agricultural and livestock production, playing a key role in the global food security. The country has a promising outlook in terms of potential for the expansion of its global competitiveness in the sector. However, in order to achieve this, it needs to adopt an integrated approach between the agricultural and livestock production, the conservation of the native vegetation and the encouragement of the activities that value the products of the biodiversity and the ecosystem services in all Brazilian biomes. It is necessary to guarantee the production on rural properties that are free from illegal deforestation and the increase in the scale of the bioeconomy.

Currently, the changes in land use represent the majority of the greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil. The agricultural and livestock sector is responsible for almost a third of the gross emissions in the country. iCS supports the transition to food systems that promote social inclusion, food, and nutritional security for Brazilians, and the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions through the adoption of practices of sustainable management and traceability.

Learn below about the work plans of this Area on the three operating fronts:

Restoration and Biodiversity

iCS focuses on the promotion of the restoration of ecosystems and the conservation of the standing forest, with the promotion of incentives that result in the generation of business from the bioeconomy and allow, in addition to the carbon capture, more sustainable and competitive regional development, generating employment, income, and quality of life for the local populations.

In this area of ​​operation, the objectives of iCS are the economic inclusion of the local populations, regional dynamism, and the capture and storage of carbon.

 

Approach:

  • Boosting the restoration value chains, through the strengthening and the expansion of the impact of multi-stakeholder initiatives, collection networks of seeds, production companies of seedlings, and restoration companies. The approach encompasses: market development, research and development, workforce training and rural extension
  • Unlocking and leveraging capital flows for the restoration, overcoming structural bottlenecks, developing and expanding replicable blueprints for different categories of land possession
  • Supporting public policies, such as the implementation of the Brazilian National Plan for the Recovery of Native Vegetation (PLANAVEG), the Forest Code, forest concessions and unlocking regulatory structures and public policies, which favor ecological and productive restoration on a large scale, as well as the significant natural regeneration of the secondary forests
  • Socio-biodiversity products: Fostering regional trade arrangements and extension by promoting financial instruments for the standing forest economy, as well as structuring public policies, tax relief, and Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I).

Agriculture and livestock and food systems

This area aims to promote regenerative and more resilient agricultural practices and the traceability of the value chains through robust methodologies and the strengthening of the implementation and compliance with the national and international socioenvironmental legislation.

Approach:

  • Sustainable food systems
    > Promotion of healthy and sustainable diets
    > Resilience, adaptation and fair transition in food systems, focusing on the new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), the Adaptation Plan and the path to COP30
  • Subsystem of low carbon value chains
    > Traceability and low carbon practices in cattle farming
    > Zero deforestation in the soy chain
  • Financial subsystem: regenerative agriculture and livestock
    > Reorientation of the public rural credit mechanisms and financial incentives from the private capital market for the low carbon agriculture and livestock, regeneration of degraded areas and restoration.

Emissions from land use

The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil is the change in land use resulting from deforestation. iCS is focusing on the allocation of public lands for conservation, as well as on the strengthening of the management and monitoring of the protected areas and reinforcing the implementation of the national legislation.

 

 

Approach:

  • Access to information, transparency and adaptation
    > Support for initiatives that contribute to determining the scope and limits of the Brazilian General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD) and to guarantee the transparency and implementation of the Forest Code and its instruments;> Unification and availability of the state bases of Authorization for the Suppression of Vegetation (ASV), differentiating between legal and illegal deforestation
    > Construction of an adaptation plan for forest fires
  • Strengthening of the socioenvironmental legislation
    > Improvement of the regulatory framework and the public policies for the protection of the native vegetation, restoration and production of the socio-biodiversity
    > Construction of legal solutions, together with the judicial system, for land, social, environmental and climate problems
    > Support to environmental bodies for the incorporation of the climate agenda and a greater efficiency in carrying out their duties.
  • Protected areas
    > Allocation of public lands and acceleration of the land regularization
    > Promotion of management mechanisms aimed at the integrity and sustainability of the Protected Areas
    > Non-intrusion, respect for territorial rights, resilience, and emergency actions in the light of extreme weather events.

 

 

Grants

SUSTENTAREA
2024 June 12 months

Redução de emissões de GEE no PNAE por meio de compras públicas sustentáveis | Núcleo de Pesquisa e Extensão da USP Sustentarea:

To contribute to the National Fund for Education Development for incluiding climatic aspects in its national recommendations for the National School Feeding Program and encouraging public managers to follow them, as well as creating a tool that allows these managers to identify the origin of the meat purchased for school meals.
PUC ECONOMIA
2024 January 10 months

Amazonia 2030 – Componente Instituto Itaúsa | PUC-Rio Dept.Economia:

To contribute to the development of the Amazon through strategic studies, training and support for the implementation of economic solutions within the scope of public policies. At this stage, the Amazon 2030 project will work on the themes (i) carbon and forest restoration and (ii) the economy of cities in the Amazon. These strategic areas are added to the project’s previous deliveries.
REGENERA
2024 January 12 months

Da Amazônia Para Belém - COP 30 | Instituto Regenera:

To expand the availability of agroecological food at COP 30, produced by local farmers and distributed through local producer networks. This will be pursued by strengthening local agroecological producer networks and collaborating with decision-makers at UNFCCC, federal, state, and municipal governments to meet the COP’s demand through these networks.
FINATEC
2024 June 12 months

Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional e justiça climática:evidências, políticas e ação. | Fundação de Empreendimentos Cientificos e Tecnologicos:

Provide technical support for the development of the Sectoral Plan for Food and Nutritional Security Adaptation (SAN), as well as the guidelines for the Food and Climate Framework, in support of the Ministry of Social Development (MDS).
CCMob
2024 April 12 months

Estratégia de engajamento e Secretaria Executiva da Rede Brinco do Boi | Coalizão Clima e Mobilidade Ativa:

To act as Executive Secretary of Brinco do Boi Network, a coalition aimed at conducting communication and mobilization campaigns for transparency regarding the origin of meat and the traceability of the beef chain. The Network will bring together civil society organizations, think tanks, communication organizations, among others, and will work on a positive agenda.
JOSUE DE CASTRO
2024 May 18 months

Consumo de proteína animal no Brasil no contexto das mudanças climáticas | Cátedra Josué de Castro:

Investigate the meat consumption profile in Brazil and seek ways to diversify the demand and supply of alternatives to animal protein, as well as promote the debate on the contours of regenerative livestock (cattle, swine, and poultry).
MESA BR
2024 May 12 months

Diagnóstico da vinculação da GTA ao CAR e de incentivos para adoção da rastreabilidade pelos produtores | ASSOCIACAO CIVIL DA PECUARIA SUSTENTAVEL - GTPS - GRUPO DE TRABALHO DA PECUARIA SUSTENTAVEL:

To contribute to the engagement of the livestock sector with the traceability of the cattle chain through the analysis of the impacts of the current integration of CAR (Rural Environmental Registry) and GTA (Guide for Transport of Animals) in Pará and the identification of incentives for the adoption of traceability by rural producers.
CPI
2024 March 10 months

Amazonia 2030 – Componente Instituto Itaúsa | Climate Policy Initiative - Brasil:

To contribute to the development of the Amazon region through strategic studies, training and support for economic solutions and public policies. In this phase, the Amazon 2030 project will work on the themes (i) overview of infrastructure projects in the Amazon and their socio-environmental impacts, (ii) deforestation in settlements and (iii) institutional arrangements for forest restoration.
FGV Agro
2024 May 12 months

Avaliação da Viabilidade, Incentivos Financeiros e Disseminação de Informações no Setor Agropecuário | Fundacao Getulio Vargas - Agro:

Propose adjustments to rural credit and insurance aimed at adapting Brazilian agriculture to climate change (CC). The following will be done: analysis of impact scenarios of CC on second-crop corn until 2050; Analysis of the adherence of current credit mechanisms to the generated impacts and recommendations for improvement; and Communication actions of the results to the agricultural sector.
CEA
2024 January 12 months

Amazonia 2030 – Componente Instituto Itaúsa | Centro de Empreendedorismo da Amazônia:

Facing a perfect storm is the current situation in the Amazon, with a low productive and informal economy, gaps on social progress, conflicts and uncertainties about land rights. The Amazon 2030 will contribute with guidelines for the region’s development through research in three strategic areas of the forest-based economy: forest management, energy and social progress.
ISA
2024 June 18 months

Estruturação da cadeia produtiva de sementes nativas para dar escala à restauração de ecossistemas no Brasil | Instituto Socioambiental:

To strengthen the native seed productive chain by supporting and fomenting the networks and groups of seed collectors through the Redario. Institutional, financial/commercial management and governance of native seed collectors networks strengthening actions as well as political and multisectoral coordination actions to strengthening the native seed and restoration chains will be carried out.
MPA
2023 September 10 months

Alimentar Cinco Milhões de Brasileiros e Brasileiras | Movimento dos Pequenos Agricultores:

Create a network of grassroots organizations and movements that will work on the development of the ‘Feed Five Million Brazilians’ Plan. This plan will result in a proposal for designing a public policy that connects agroecological production from family farming to the supply of healthy and sustainable food in cities, especially for the most vulnerable.
IDESAM
2023 May 6 months

Mapeamento de projetos de carbono e sua relação com povos indígenas e comunidades tradicionais na Amazônia brasileira | Instituto Conservação e Desenv Sust da Amazônia:

To assess the state of the art of forest carbon projects in Brazil and its methodological challenges to support proposals aiming to ensure integrity and safeguards. Quantitative and qualitative analyzes of projects in the Brazilian Amazon will be carried out, including regional mapping, using the databases of the main certifiers: VERRA/VCS, Gold Standard and Plan Vivo.
ANA
2023 September 10 months

XII Congresso Brasileiro de Agroecologia: estreitando os laços entre a agroecologia e a justiça climática | AS-PTA Assessoria e Serviços a Projetos em Agricultura Alternativa:

To support the organization of the Climate Justice axis at the XII Agroecology Congress and the structuring of the National Agroecology Articulation’s position on the relationship between agroecology and climate change, bringing this network closer to the climate agenda
NUPENS / FUSP
2023 November 12 months

Transição Agroalimentar no debate do G20 | Núcleo de Pesq. Epidemiológicas em Nutrição e Saúde:

To promote informed debate on the role of the G20 and international financing for the agri-food transition, through the organization of policy briefs and discussions with key stakeholders on the environmental impacts and food security implications of a production focus on commodities and the need for diversification in food production.
IMAZON
2023 October 12 months

Ampliando a efetividade de ações de responsabilização por desmatamento ilegal | Inst. do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amaz.:

To enhance the effectiveness of illegal deforestation accountability measures in the Amazon region, with a focus on the “Amazon Protects” program by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office. The project will assist in formulating concrete recommendations for the National Council of Justice to ensure the effective implementation of judgments for the recovery of illegally deforested areas.
ICV
2023 August 15 months

Monitor de Fiscalização - MapBiomas | Instituto Centro de Vida:

To improve the monitoring of deforestation enforcement actions through a platform that track authorizations and inspection linked to deforestation alerts. The project will update current data (Ibama, ICMBio & 10 subnational agencies) and double the number of subnational agencies with data available, focusing on the Legal Amazon & MATOPIBA, in addition of improving automation and update frequency.
AMZ INVESTORS
2023 January 12 months

Alavancando investimento internacional para a bioeconomia e investimento de impacto na Amazônia | Amazon Investors Coalition:

To educate international impact investors about the opportunities of the bioeconomy in the Amazon, helping to leverage impact investment and develop the impact entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Amazon. Streamline the financing ecosystem for the Amazonian bioeconomy by connecting the local ecosystem with international networks of impact investors.
CEBRAP
2023 September 12 months

Agenda setting para uma transição inclusiva dos sistemas agroalimentares no Brasil | Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento:

Promoting high-level debate on the agri-food transition in Brazil, bringing as main inputs an analytical perspective on how the topic is being incorporated into the structures of the federal government, and the organization of a high-level multistakeholder group for this agenda setting.
IFZ
2023 June 12 months

Integração da política nacional de segurança alimentar com a política climática | Instituto Fome Zero:

To advocate for the effectiveness of the National Policy on Agroecology and Organic Production (PNAPO) and its integration with the climate agenda, through the evaluation of its implementation status, mapping of the involved stakeholders, and the development of improvement recommendations to be addressed to the federal government, notably the Ministries of Social Development and Agrarian Develpt.
CEA
2023 October 6 months

Apoio ao aprimoramento dos sistemas PRODES e DETER Parte 2 (Complemento G-22-01193) | Centro de Empreendedorismo da Amazônia:

To continue the improvement of PRODES and DETER systems, supporting the transition of INPE’s Amazon deforestation monitoring system based on visual interpretation of images by classification algorithms based on “big data” combined with further review by experts.
IPAM
2023 December 12 months

Quantificando danos climáticos: Análise da Aprovação do Marco Temporal e da Redução de RL em Roraima | Inst. de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia:

To analyse the climate impacts of legislative proposals currently in Congress that weaken the territorial rights of indigenous peoples, and changes in the forest legislation of Roraima. The project will also contribute to anti-deforestation efforts led by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) and civil society organizations by quantifying the climate damages resulting from illegal deforestation.
DATA PRIVACY
2023 October 10 months

Regulação ambiental e democracia: Efetivando a LGPD para a divulgação de dados ambientais | Associação Data Privacy Brasil de Pesquisa:

To conduct a legal study regarding the inadequate use of the Data Privacy Act, aiming to identify and clarify potential obstacles created in accessing environmental information, with emphasis on the Animal Transit Guide. Through the generation of knowledge and advocacy actions, the project will demonstrate the legal feasibility of sharing personal data in environmental policies.
MAPARAJUBA
2023 December 12 months

Assessoria jurídica popular para projetos de carbono em territórios tradicionais do tapajós | Associação Maparajuba Direitos Humanos:

To enhance the training of community-based legal advisors for their involvement with indigenous peoples and traditional communities in the Tapajós region, Western Pará, with a focus on carbon credits and climate justice. The project will aid in organizing workshops for communities interested in this subject and in creating content related to contractual justice in carbon credit projects.
Lab OC
2023 January 10 months

Estimativa das emissões de GEE associadas aos sistemas alimentares | Lab. do Observatório do Clima:

To estimate greenhouse gases emissions (GHG) from food systems in Brazil, detailed by the main sectors – land use change, agriculture, energy, industrial processes and residues. As much as possible, the project will also estimate GHG emission from the key food commodities chains, notably, meat.

 

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News

08.07.2024

Observatory for the public forests

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Payment for Environmental Services: many opportunities and some challenges

14.06.2024

International seminar discusses the relationship between food systems and the climate emergency
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Library

29.04.2024

BRIDGING THE INGENUITY GAP IDEAS FOR A VIBRANT G20

17.04.2024

POLICY BRIEF: Unlocking the potential of Nature-Based Solutions

08.09.2023

Sustainable rural agri-food system transitions in Brazil, India, and South Africa

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Climate change: risks and opportunities for the development of Brazil
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