THE NEXT STEP TOWARDS CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION: IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY OF BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL LANDS

The document presents evidence that agricultural modernization in Brazil is compatible with forest protection. It highlights that a significant portion of Brazil's cleared land is underused, primarily for low-productivity cattle grazing. Through four case studies, the authors demonstrate that technological innovations, infrastructure improvements, and market shifts lead to yield gains and the conversion of pastures to croplands, which in turn reduces the pressure to clear new forests. The brief concludes that combining the enforcement of the 2012 Forest Code with sustainable marketing strategies can further decouple agricultural growth from deforestation.

• Brazil's agricultural land is significantly underutilized, with a small fraction of land producing the majority of output; specifically, 18% of farmland accounted for 63% of overall production in 2006.
• Cattle grazing is identified as one of the least productive agricultural activities and occupies more than 70% of the land not covered by native vegetation.
• The adaptation of soybeans for the Brazilian Cerrado in the 1970s led to an expansion of cropland primarily through the substitution of native pastures, resulting in lower deforestation in municipalities more suitable for soybean cultivation.
• Expanding rural access to electric power between 1960 and 2000 encouraged farmers to shift from cattle grazing to crop cultivation, with a 10% increase in electricity access leading to a 3-percentage point decrease in land used for cattle grazing.
• The construction of 14 sugarcane mills in Mato Grosso do Sul between 2005 and 2012 increased sugarcane cropland by over 300%, mostly on pasturelands, and reduced deforestation by an average of 6.3 thousand hectares in affected municipalities after three years.
• In the Tapajós Basin from 2002 to 2012, an increase in relative crop-to-beef prices drove farmers to convert pastures to croplands, which reduced deforestation by 5,300 km2.
• The 2012 Forest Code, which mandates Legal Forest Reserves of 20% to 80% of rural property area, provides a policy framework to promote productivity gains over land clearing.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2017). THE NEXT STEP TOWARDS CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION: IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY OF BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL LANDS. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/PP-ING_-CPI_Digital.pdf

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. THE NEXT STEP TOWARDS CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION: IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY OF BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL LANDS. 2017. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/PP-ING_-CPI_Digital.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=THE NEXT STEP TOWARDS CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION: IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY OF BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL LANDS |date=April 2017 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/PP-ING_-CPI_Digital.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2017next, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{THE NEXT STEP TOWARDS CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION: IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY OF BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL LANDS}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2017}, month = apr, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/PP-ING_-CPI_Digital.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }