O Financiamento da Agropecuária Sustentável no Cerrado

The report finds that while significant financial flows enter the Cerrado, the current financial architecture fails to align agricultural funding with sustainability and zero-deforestation goals. Subsidized sustainable credit represents only 5.7% of total rural credit in the biome between 2020/21 and 2023/24, and is highly concentrated among large producers and a few financial institutions. The Matopiba region is particularly vulnerable, concentrating over 55% of the biome's deforestation (2013–2022) while relying heavily on Constitutional Financing Funds (FCFs), which often lack transparent sustainability criteria. Blended finance instruments show potential through risk mitigation and flexible terms but remain limited in scale compared to the economic incentives driving land conversion. The authors recommend improving transparency via the Brazilian Sustainable Taxonomy (TSB), expanding the role of sustainable credit, and fostering financial innovation to mobilize private capital.

• Subsidized rural credit in the Cerrado totaled R$ 198 billion between the 2020/21 and 2023/24 agricultural years, representing approximately 36% of Brazil's total rural credit. The Matopiba region received R$ 48.59 billion, concentrating over 32% of the volume of financing despite generating only about 14.5% of the agricultural production value.
• Sustainable subsidized credit is extremely limited and concentrated, accounting for only 5.7% of total rural credit in the Cerrado from 2020/21 to 2023/24. Access is skewed toward large producers; for example, the RenovAgro and Programa ABC lines have average loan values of approximately R$ 1.2 million per installment, compared to R$ 700,000 to R$ 750,000 for other programs.
• The Matopiba region exhibits a high dependence on Constitutional Financing Funds (FCFs), which account for approximately 62% of subsidized credit in the area. This creates a transparency gap, as over 72% of credit in Matopiba lacks identifiable sustainability criteria beyond the SPSABC framework.
• Sustainable credit has poor geographic coverage across the biome. Only 40% of municipalities in the Cerrado recorded contracts under RenovAgro/Programa ABC, and 53% of municipalities had no sustainable credit contracts under the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf) during the analyzed period.
• The rural credit market in Matopiba is dominated by a few institutions, primarily Banco do Brasil, Banco do Nordeste, and Banco da Amazônia, who hold 85% to 90% of the subsidized credit volume. In the sustainable segment, concentration is even higher, with the leading institution holding over 90% of the market share in municipalities where sustainable loans were granted.
• Blended finance mechanisms, ranging from R$ 20 million to over R$ 1.5 billion, offer a complementary path to public credit but face scale restrictions. Key barriers include a limited pipeline of bankable projects, high Brazilian interest rates, and the fact that financial incentives are often small compared to the economic gains from deforestation.

APA

Afflalo, L., Assunção, J., Hoover, N., & Wallock, W. (2026). O Financiamento da Agropecuária Sustentável no Cerrado. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Relatorio-O-Financiamento-da-Agropecuaria-Sustentavel-no-Cerrado.pdf

Chicago

Afflalo, Lucas, Juliano Assunção, Natalie Hoover, and William Wallock. O Financiamento da Agropecuária Sustentável no Cerrado. Climate Policy Initiative, 2026. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Relatorio-O-Financiamento-da-Agropecuaria-Sustentavel-no-Cerrado.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Afflalo |first1=Lucas |last2=Assunção |first2=Juliano |last3=Hoover |first3=Natalie |last4=Wallock |first4=William |title=O Financiamento da Agropecuária Sustentável no Cerrado |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=May 2026 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Relatorio-O-Financiamento-da-Agropecuaria-Sustentavel-no-Cerrado.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{afflalo2026financiamento, author = {Afflalo, Lucas and Assunção, Juliano and Hoover, Natalie and Wallock, William}, title = {{O Financiamento da Agropecuária Sustentável no Cerrado}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2026}, month = may, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Relatorio-O-Financiamento-da-Agropecuaria-Sustentavel-no-Cerrado.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }