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

An evaluation of the ABC Recuperação credit line in the Cerrado biome finds that the program has had modest effects on pasture recovery and marginal impacts on land use. The analysis reveals that credit provision did not significantly improve pasture quality, and some areas were converted from native vegetation to agricultural use before credit was obtained. However, the use of technical assistance was linked to a significant reduction in degraded pasture area. The report recommends strengthening monitoring, improving pre-credit evaluations to prevent funding recently deforested areas, and combining credit with technical assistance and risk mitigation tools.

• The ABC Recuperação credit line has demonstrated minimal effectiveness in improving pasture quality or changing land use in the Cerrado. Approximately 75% of analyzed areas remained unchanged four years after credit issuance, and the credit had no significant impact on 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 integration of technical assistance is a critical factor for success; borrowers who hired technical assistance saw an average reduction of 6 percentage points in degraded pasture area, whereas those without such assistance saw no change in quality.
• There is evidence that some areas receiving credit for pasture recovery had been converted from native vegetation to pasture prior to the credit being 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 line contributed very little to national targets, estimated at a maximum of 2.5% of the goal to recover 15 million hectares by 2020.

APA

OLIVEIRA, W., SOUZA, P., & ASSUNÇÃO, 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 ASSUNÇÃO. 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=ASSUNÇÃO |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 ASSUNÇÃO, 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} }