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From colonization to “environmental soy”: A case study of environmental and socio-economic valuation in the Amazon soy frontier

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Abstract

This paper examines the socio-economic and environmental implications of soy development in Santarém, Pará, located in the Brazilian Amazon. The settlement history of the region contributes directly to the way in which soy agriculture is currently proceeding in Santarém. Government policies and perspectives have been shaped by a history of agrarian colonization of Amazon forests, and the small farmers, or colonos, who are now being bought out by soy agribusiness are also rooted in this history. As a means of ascertaining the current state and interaction of soy actors with the burgeoning soy-based economy in the area, field research was conducted on the role of primary and secondary forests for soy production. Research also included an analysis of valuation discourses – that is, how the differing soy actors (local government, agribusiness, conservation NGOs, and small farmers) assign value to types of forests and their different interpretations of what constitutes environmental degradation. The ways in which these different actors assign such values to forests and how they structure the definition of environmental degradation is a key factor in determining who “wins” and “loses” in the realm of Amazon development. Significant environmental and socio-economic implications of soy expansion, especially for the colonos, are not taken into account because the dominant rhetoric of Amazonian development ignores their contribution to social and ecological diversity. This omission keeps colono communities living at poverty level and even exacerbates colono poverty under the soy development project. The colonos and their representatives are responding by setting forth their own, competing valuations of primary and secondary forests that contrast sharply with state soy growing schemes and NGO plans for “sustainable soy.” These have their roots in local knowledge and best practices.

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Abbreviations

TNC:

The Nature Conservancy

WWF-RSS:

World Wildlife Fund’s Roundtable on Sustainable Soy

STR:

Rural Workers Union of Santarém

ASB:

Articulação Soja-Brasil

NGO:

Non-governmental Organization

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grassroots International, 179 Boylston St., 4th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Corrina Steward

  2. Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT, USA

    Corrina Steward

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  1. Corrina Steward
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Correspondence to Corrina Steward.

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Corrina Steward is the Resource Rights Specialist at Grassroots International in Boston, Massachusetts. She holds a Masters degree in Environmental Science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in New Haven, Connecticut where she focused on social ecology, community development, and globalization. She recently co-edited the book Agroecology and the Struggle for Food Sovereignty in the Americas (2006, London, UK: International Institute for Environment and Development).

Appendix

Appendix

Signators to Articulação Soja-Brasil’s Outcomes Document

  • Grupo de Trabalho Floresta do Forum Brasileiro de ONGs e Movimentos Sociais pelo Meio Ambiente e Desenvolvimento – FBOMS

  • Grupo de Trabalho Amazônico – GTA

  • Federação dos Trabalhadores na Agricultura Familiar do Sul – FETRAF-Sul

  • Fundação Centro Brasileiro de Referência e Apoio Cultural – CEBRAC

  • Agência de Desenvolvimento da Capetinga

  • Amigos da Terra – Amazônia Brasileira

  • Animação Pastoral e Social no Meio Rural – APR

  • Argonautas Ambientalistas da Amazônia

  • Assessoria e Serviço a Projetos em Agricultura Alternativa – AS-PTA

  • Associação de Educação e Assistência Social Nª Sª da Assunção

  • Associação de Mulheres Trabalhadoras do Baixo Amazonas – AOMTBAM/Pará

  • Associação dos Chacareiros do Córrego Coqueiros

  • Associação Maranhense para Conservação da Natureza – AMAVIDA

  • Associação Mineira de Defesa do Ambiente – AMDA

  • Associação para o desenvolvimento da Agroecologia – AOPA (PR)

  • Cáritas Brasileira Região Norte II

  • Centro de Apoio aos Projetos de Ação Comunitária – CEAPAC/Pará

  • Centro de Educação Popular – CEPO (RS)

  • Centro Ecológico de Ipê – CAIPE (RS)

  • Centro Vianei de Educação Popular (SC)

  • Comunicação e Cultura

  • Departamento de Estudo Sócio-Econômico Rurais – DESER (PR)

  • Ecodata

  • Ecologia e Ação – ECOA

  • Federação de Órgãos para a Assistência Social e Educacional – FASE FASE

  • Fundação Águas do Piauí – FUNAGUAS

  • Fundação O Boticário de Proteção à Natureza

  • Fundação Pró-Natureza – FUNATURA

  • Instituto Ambiental Ratones

  • Instituto Centro de Vida – ICV

  • Instituto de Estudos Socioeconomicos – INESC

  • Instituto de Formação e Assessoria Sindical Rural – IFAS

  • Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia – IPAM

  • Instituto de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Amazônico

  • Instituto Goyá

  • Instituto para o Desenvolvimento Ambiental – IDA

  • Instituto Sociedade População e Natureza – ISPN

  • Instituto Socioambiental – ISA

  • Núcleo Amigos da Terra/Brasil

  • Organização de Cidadania Cultura e Ambiente – OCCA

  • Semapi-Sindicato

  • Sindicato dos Trabalhadores Rurais de Sarandi

  • Sociedade de Proteção e Utilização do Meio Ambiente – PUMA

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Steward, C. From colonization to “environmental soy”: A case study of environmental and socio-economic valuation in the Amazon soy frontier. Agric Hum Values 24, 107–122 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-006-9030-4

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