Better, But Not Sustainable: The Impacts of Switzerland’s Sector Agreement on Soy Production in Brazil

Frey, Sara; Bürgi Bonanomi, Elisabeth; Tribaldos, Theresa (November 2022). Better, But Not Sustainable: The Impacts of Switzerland’s Sector Agreement on Soy Production in Brazil (Working Paper NRP73 NRP73-WP02-2022). Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern

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The production and expansion of soy feed in Brazil generates various environmental and social harms. The vast majority of this soy is genetically modified (GM) and non-certified. But there is a small share of soy feed production that occurs under certification schemes stipulating social and environmental criteria, as well as a small share of production of non-genetically modified (non-GM) soy. These two production modes partly overlap. Based on a sector agreement, Switzerland exclusively imports certified non-GM soy feed. In the present article, we conduct a literature review to explore who drives this decision for non-GM soy feed and, more importantly, whether it has discernible sustainability impacts on the ground in production areas. Literature and data analysing the impacts of certified non-GM soy feed are scarce. Based on the scant but a little less scarce available data on certified soy, we conclude that the Swiss model represents an improvement, but is not truly sustainable. We recommend that more data be made available which enables robust linking of Swiss consumption to production in Brazil. Finally, we recommend conducting more research into how a sustainable Swiss feed–meat nexus could be designed.

Item Type:

Working Paper

Division/Institute:

10 Strategic Research Centers > Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)

UniBE Contributor:

Frey, Sara Rahel, Bürgi, Elisabeth, Tribaldos, Theresa Margarete

Series:

Working Paper NRP73

Publisher:

Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern

Projects:

[1479] Sustainable Trade Relations for Diversified Food Systems
[805] Sustainability Governance

Language:

English

Submitter:

Melchior Peter Nussbaumer

Date Deposited:

02 Nov 2022 16:10

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 16:27

Additional Information:

Der Text darf offen sichtbar gemacht werden, 2.11.2022/A. Stettler

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/174433

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/174433

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