This Project is Helping Brazilian Ranchers Switch to Plant-Based Farming

Food awareness organisation ProVeg Brazil has kicked off the Cultiva Project, an initiative to help livestock farmers transition to plant-based farming.

An age-old gripe about the calls to diversify our protein sources is how it will impact the people at the heart of the food system: the farmers.

For many, farming livestock is all they’ve known, and they’re experts at it. It’s their main source of income and the base of their business relationships. But it comes at great costs: to the planet, and eventually themselves.

Over the years, several initiatives have cropped up to help these producers transition away from animal agriculture and towards plant-based agroforestry. The latest project comes from food awareness organisation ProVeg Brazil, focusing on a beef and soy giant that’s home to the most deforested area in the world.

Livestock farming is linked to 90% of deforestation in the Amazon. Further, estimates suggest that three-quarters of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions come from food production, and of this, 78% is directly from beef, the most polluting food group. Plus, a third of its land is used for crops or pasture, while it still faces challenges in widespread access to nutritious food.

“We are proposing a solution to this impasse called the Cultiva Project, which will encourage just transition, food security and more sustainable agricultural production,” said Aline Baroni, executive director of ProVeg Brazil.

What ProVeg’s Cultiva Project involves

Through the Cultiva Project, ProVeg will offer agricultural, legal and marketing support to ranchers wishing to switch from animal farming to plant-based agroforestry systems, which integrate trees and agricultural crops in the same space in a planned and sustainable manner.

According to ProVeg, agroforestry can help generate up to six times more income per hectare than livestock, while producing a diversity of food and other products. The practice helps battle deforestation and cut emissions, promotes greater biodiversity and land use, enhances soil health, and conserves natural resources.

The idea is to promote a farming model that’s kinder to the planet, economically viable, and socially fair for family farmers.

“We are offering, completely free of charge, technical support in the areas of agronomy, law and marketing for producers who are motivated to start producing plant-based foods,” explained Baroni. “It is an investment in the future of family farming, because we know how important it is to guarantee food security and promote healthy eating in Brazil.”

ProVeg will select two rural producers currently operating in livestock systems of any type, like raising cattle, pigs and poultry for meat, milk and eggs.

Once selected, farmers will receive an individualised transition plan alongside specialised technical support for at least nine months to implement at least one hectare of agroforestry on each property. The collaborative process will involve both virtual and in-person monitoring, as well as educational support for communities about the importance of vegetable-rich food systems and agroecological production.

Why Brazil needs farm transition projects

“Our goal is to accelerate the transition to more sustainable plant-rich food systems. With this project, we seek not only to reduce the environmental impact of animal production, but also to offer rural producers a new income prospect,” said Baroni.

And Brazil, which will host the annual UN climate summit, desperately needs that transition. Scientists have warned that the country’s beef industry – home to giants like JBS and Minerva – is generating twice as many emissions as the limit outlined in the Paris Agreement.

“Our findings show that it’s necessary to adopt practices in the production chain that reduce emissions. This also contributes to reducing the costs associated with climate change,” said the study’s lead author, Mariana Vieira da Costa, from the Federal University of São Paulo.

The reason why a third of its land is used for farming today is because the area available for agriculture grew by 50% between 1985 and 2022, and much of this expansion (64%) was due to deforestation for pasture, mostly in the Amazon, a biome that is close to a tipping point.

The government has introduced an agriculture emissions plan to provide continuity to sectoral policy and help the farming industry fight climate change this decade, though adoption remains low. And last year, a federal court in Brazil ordered a cattle rancher to pay a $50M fine for destroying parts of the Amazon rainforest, and ordered him to restore the land he cleared.

It’s reflective of the government’s shift in climate policy after former leader Jair Bolsonaro’s reign saw a 60% increase in Amazon deforestation. Under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the country has updated its goals and pledged to eliminate Amazon deforestation by 2030.

Brazil isn’t the only country where efforts to help farmers switch to plant-based farming are ongoing. In the US, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is piloting a farm transition grant programme, and has already supported farmers in Alabama and Nebraska. The Transfarmation Project and Animal Outlook are spearheading similar initiatives too.