Agriculture-driven tropical deforestation

This research paper synthesizes evidence on agriculture-driven tropical deforestation, finding that while agriculture drove 90-99% of deforestation between 2011-2015, only 45-65% of that land became productive agriculture. The authors argue that international supply chain measures are limited because 33-50% of such deforestation does not result in managed land and roughly 75% of expansion is driven by domestic demand in producer countries, particularly in Africa.

• Between 2011 and 2015, agriculture drove the vast majority of tropical deforestation (90% to 99%), yet only 45% to 65% of that deforested land was converted into productive agriculture within a few years.
• International supply chain policies have limited effectiveness because one-third to one-half of agriculture-driven deforestation does not lead to actively managed agricultural land.
• Approximately 75% of agricultural expansion into forests is caused by domestic demand within producer countries, particularly for cereals and beef, and is a primary driver of deforestation across Africa.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2022). Agriculture-driven tropical deforestation. https://www.sei.org/publications/agriculture-driven-tropical-deforestation

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Agriculture-driven tropical deforestation. 2022. https://www.sei.org/publications/agriculture-driven-tropical-deforestation.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Agriculture-driven tropical deforestation |date=8 September 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/agriculture-driven-tropical-deforestation |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2022agriculturedriven, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Agriculture-driven tropical deforestation}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/agriculture-driven-tropical-deforestation}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }