The Impact of Brazil’s ABC Program Credit on Pasture Recovery: Evidence from the Cerrado

An evaluation of Brazil's ABC Recuperação credit line in the Cerrado biome found that the program has had minimal impact on recovering degraded pastures and failed to significantly improve pasture quality. While technical assistance was linked to a 6 percentage point reduction in degraded areas, the overall program contributed only 2.5% toward the 2020 recovery target. The study also found evidence of deforestation occurring prior to credit issuance and recommends strengthening monitoring, improving pre-credit eligibility evaluations, and combining credit with risk management and technical assistance.

• The ABC Recuperação credit line has shown minimal effectiveness in improving pasture quality or changing land use in the Cerrado biome. Analysis indicates that nearly 75% of the areas financed remained unchanged four years after credit issuance, and the credit did not significantly impact severely degraded areas. On average, obtaining credit led to a 3 percentage point reduction in pasture area due to conversion to other economic uses.
• The provision of technical assistance is a critical factor for the success of pasture recovery. Borrowers who used ABC Recuperação funds to hire technical assistance experienced an average reduction of 6 percentage points in degraded pasture area, whereas those who did not use technical assistance saw no changes in pasture quality.
• There is evidence that some areas receiving credit for pasture recovery were converted from native vegetation to pasture before the credit was issued, which contradicts the program's goal of preventing deforestation. However, the conversion of native vegetation to pastureland ceased after the credit was provided.
• The ABC Recuperação credit contributed very little toward Brazil's national targets. It is estimated that the credit line accounted for at most 2.5% of the 15 million hectare recovery target set for 2020.

APA

OLIVEIRA, W., SOUZA, P., & ASSUNÃO, J. (2024). The Impact of Brazil’s ABC Program Credit on Pasture Recovery: Evidence from the Cerrado. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Sumary-The-Impact-of-Brazils-ABC-Program-Credit-on-Pasture-Recovery.pdf

Chicago

OLIVEIRA, WAGNER, PRISCILA SOUZA, and JULIANO ASSUNÃO. The Impact of Brazil’s ABC Program Credit on Pasture Recovery: Evidence from the Cerrado. Climate Policy Initiative, 2024. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Sumary-The-Impact-of-Brazils-ABC-Program-Credit-on-Pasture-Recovery.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=OLIVEIRA |first1=WAGNER |last2=SOUZA |first2=PRISCILA |last3=ASSUNÃO |first3=JULIANO |title=The Impact of Brazil’s ABC Program Credit on Pasture Recovery: Evidence from the Cerrado |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=September 2024 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Sumary-The-Impact-of-Brazils-ABC-Program-Credit-on-Pasture-Recovery.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{oliveira2024impact, author = {OLIVEIRA, WAGNER and SOUZA, PRISCILA and ASSUNÃO, JULIANO}, title = {{The Impact of Brazil’s ABC Program Credit on Pasture Recovery: Evidence from the Cerrado}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Sumary-The-Impact-of-Brazils-ABC-Program-Credit-on-Pasture-Recovery.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }