Cattle supply chain fidelity in the Brazilian Amazon: key considerations for deforestation monitoring
Supply chain governance is an important approach to manage environmental protection and human rights in agricultural system.
Abstract
Supply chain governance (SCG) is an increasingly important approach to manage environmental protection and human rights in agricultural systems across the tropics. SCG helps relay the preferences of international consumers to producers and fills environmental policy gaps. Brazil’s Zero-Deforestation Cattle Agreements (CA) are one of the longest-standing examples of SCG but shortcomings in implementation have reduced their conservation impacts. Chief among the reasons for their limited effect is that slaughterhouses monitor only the suppliers they buy from directly. This does not account for the complex supply network upstream of the direct sale, whose dynamics are also poorly understood. Provides the first comprehensive characterization of the strength and duration of cattle supply chain relationships based on animal transaction records from across the Brazilian Amazon. Whereas direct supply relationships (from ranchers to slaughterhouses) are relatively few and long-lasting, upstream relationships between ranchers are numerous and short-lived. Expanding monitoring to include these upstream sup- pliers increases the number of monitored transactions by an order of magnitude. However, 1% of the largest direct suppliers sell nearly half of cattle to CA slaughterhouses. More comprehensive upstream monitoring of only these prolific suppliers could greatly increase coverage at a fraction of the cost. While it may be challenging to monitor the entire supply network, significant advancements are within reach.
This article is part of the Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries (PEDL) programme.
Citation
Skidmore ME, Barrozo M, Rausch L and Gibbs HK. ‘Cattle supply chain fidelity in the Brazilian Amazon: key considerations for deforestation monitoring’ Environmental Research Letters 2024: volume 19, number 11