Integrated sourcing from smallholder livestock producers
Business Model Description
Integrated sourcing from smallholder livestock producers Scale-up the integration and intensification of smallholder / cooperative livestock farming through supply chain structures that provide services such as training, access to inputs, finance and shared processing facilities to farmers
Expected Impact
Integrate farmers into large-scale agricultural value chains, improve productivity and reduce the deforestation caused by meat production
How is this information gathered?
Investment opportunities with potential to contribute to sustainable development are based on country-level SDG Investor Maps.
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Country & Regions
- Brazil: Mato Grosso
- Brazil: Pará
- Brazil: Rondônia
Sector Classification
Food and Beverage
Development need
Sustainability Development Report 2019: score of 62.1 on SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), of 60.9 on SDG 15 (Life on Land), and of 91.7 on SDG 13 (Climate Action), with 'Significant challenges remaining' subscores prevalent across indicators (1)
Policy priority
The current administration has made supporting the agriculture sector and boosting its export competitiveness a key government priority (2) (3). Increasing the grain storage capacity, irrigation projects, environmental preservation and empowering agribusinesses have been marked as priorities.
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
For some crops, smallholder farmers constitute 70% of the food market in Brazil. A large proportion of this is family farming, which can support poverty reduction and food security. Within this outlook, women provide a significant proportion of the agricultural workforce. Approximately 30% of the total rural workforce in Brazil is female. (26)
Investment opportunities introduction
There are various credit lines and incentive programs at discounted interest rates to support investments in agriculture. The participation of foreign entrants was also facilitated through a recent policy announcement (4) (5)
Key bottlenecks introduction
Infrastructural deficiencies, especially in logistics, negatively impacting the competitiveness of freight costs, low levels of land-use efficiency and dependence on imported fertilizers (27)
Food and Agriculture
Development need
Although agribusiness represents 22% of Brazil’s GDP, 1/3 of all employment and 40% of exports (6), it is also responsible for the consumption of approx. 70% of the water in rivers, lakes and aquifers in Brazil. (7) Despite Brazil’s NDC commitment to restore and reforest 12M ha of forests by 2030, unsustainable livestock production is a key driver of deforestation (8) (9)
Meat, Poultry and Dairy
Pipeline Opportunity
Integrated sourcing from smallholder livestock producers
Integrated sourcing from smallholder livestock producers Scale-up the integration and intensification of smallholder / cooperative livestock farming through supply chain structures that provide services such as training, access to inputs, finance and shared processing facilities to farmers
Business Case
Market Size and Environment
One third of Brazil's cattle hers is found in the Amazon biome
Nearly one third (29%) of the Brazilian cattle herd, the second largest in the world, is found in the Amazon biome (10)
Dairy cattle make up only ~4% of all cattle in the Amazon biome, which is responsible for 6-9% of Brazilian milk production (10)
Indicative Return
10% - 15%
Benchmark investors with funds focused on this model (particularly swine processing and aquaculture) have achieved returns at approximately 15% (11)
Investment Timeframe
Short Term (0–5 years)
Payback times can start as early as 2.5 years after the start of the operation, with some benchmark investees surveyed breaking even as early as three years after the start of operations (10)
Ticket Size
< USD 500,000
Market Risks & Scale Obstacles
Business - Business Model Unproven
Business - Supply Chain Constraints
Impact Case
Sustainable Development Need
Livestock production contributes heavily to deforestation and land degradation
Farms that earn less than 10 minimum salaries (approximately 3.9 million farms, representing 88.6% of the total) account for only 3.3% of the gross value of agriculture sector production (1)
This is underpinned by unproductive and largely unsustainable pasture farming, keeping margins low and limiting the potential to escape poverty (1)
Gender & Marginalisation
Farms that earn less than 10 minimum salaries (approximately 3.9 million farms, representing 88.6% of the total) account for only 3.3% of the gross value of agriculture sector production (12)
This is underpinned by unproductive and largely unsustainable pasture farming, keeping margins low and limiting the potential to escape poverty (12)
Expected Development Outcome
Reduce amount of forest land cleared to raise livestock due to intensification of livestock production
Gender & Marginalisation
Integrate smallholder farmers into large-scale agricultural value chains by linking them directly with input suppliers and offtakers (often the same actor)
Improve farmer productivity thanks to availability of inputs and extension services provided by offtakers. Farms participating in sustainable livestock intensification have shown improvements in productivity by 30-490% (10)
Primary SDGs addressed
2.3.1 Volume of production per labour unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size
$12,413.78 (agricultural value added per worker) (25)
General SDG Target: By 2030 double the average productivity of food producers.
Secondary SDGs addressed
Directly impacted stakeholders
People
Indirectly impacted stakeholders
People
Outcome Risks
Animal welfare is severely reduced from breeding animals in confined spaces
Risk of spread of disease increases exponentially from intensive protein production, particularly for livestock species such as poultry and pigs
Physical infrastructure required for processing facilities may cause a loss in biodiversity in the area, as well as a destruction of natural habitats and rural landscapes
Gender inequality and/or marginalization risk: The risk of pushing the non-beneficiary farmers out of the market vis-a-vis the ones who increase their productivity through this IOA
Impact Risks
Unexpected impact risk: Environmental risks such as the spread of diseases or the loss of biodiversity may be accrued if this model is not administered sustainably
Gender inequality and/or marginalization risk: Stakeholder participation risk if the experience and the expectations of local communities are not taken into account
Impact Classification
What
Intensification of livestock farming could raise farmer incomes while reducing environmental impact of expansive cattle ranching
Who
Small and mid-scale farmers are relatively underserved as extensive ranching lowers productivity
Risk
The model is proven, but complex logistics networks to connect the operation to markets may limit breadth of impact
Impact Thesis
Integrate farmers into large-scale agricultural value chains, improve productivity and reduce the deforestation caused by meat production
Enabling Environment
Policy Environment
(Plano Safra): The Plano Safra provides resources for improving the commercialization and industrialization of the sector (US$ 45 billion), for making direct investments (US$ 12 billion), improving access to rural credit (US$ 250 million) and technical support (US$ 500 million) (16)
(National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture): Smallholder farmers who are participants of the National Program for the Strengthening of Family Agriculture have been allocated US$ 8 billion in resources, with some funds earmarked for the recovery of degraded land (17) (18)
This recent policy announcement also facilitates the participation of foreign entrants, with agriculture credits to be emitted in US$ (19) (20)
The current administration has made supporting the agriculture sector and boosting its export competitiveness a key government priority (14) (15)
Financial Environment
Financial incentives: Federal credit lines for defrayment, commercialization and industrialization for smallholder farmers have been set at rates of 3%, and 4.6% for Pronaf participants (22)
Regulatory Environment
The smallholder sector is overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture, which chairs the Commission on Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, oversees the deployment and implementation of Pronaf, and maintains a register on Pronaf recipients (crossed with other federal databases) (21)
Marketplace Participants
Private Sector
Investors such as Kaete Investimentos, SP Ventures. Corporations such as Instituto Sabin, Alianza del Pastizal, Carne Organica do Pantanal (ABPO), PECSA, Dom Porquito and Peixes da Amazônia
Non-Profit
Confederação Nacional dos Agricultores Familiares (Conafer), Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores na Agricultura (Contag), Sitawi Finanças do Bem, Alimi Impact Ventures
Target Locations
Brazil: Mato Grosso
Brazil: Pará
Brazil: Rondônia
References
- (1) Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2019, https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/#/BRA
- (2) RVTV, 2019, https://rvtv.com.br/2019/01/28/jair-bolsonaro-em-davos/
- (3) Estado de Minas, 2018, https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/internacional/2018/11/09/interna_internacional,1004516/agronegocio-ganha-forca-no-governo-bolsonaro.shtml
- (4) Notícias Agrícolas, 2019, https://www.noticiasagricolas.com.br/videos/agronegocio/237445-investidores-estrangeiros-e-urbanos-poderao-financiar-producao-agricola-no-brasil.html#.XRKyQutKipo
- (5) Notícias Agrícolas, 2019, https://www.noticiasagricolas.com.br/noticias/politica-agricola/237412-entenda-o-plano-safra-1920-e-o-financiamento-estrangeiro-atraves-de-certificados-do-agro.html#.XRKzLutKipp
- (6) PwC, 2013, https://www.pwc.com.br/pt/publicacoes/setores-atividade/assets/agribusiness/2013/pwc-agribusiness-brazil-overview-13.pdf
- (7) Dalberg interviews, 2019
- (8) Forest Declaration, 2017, https://forestdeclaration.org/goal/goal-4/
- (9) Chain Reaction Research, 2018, https://chainreactionresearch.com/report/cattle-driven-deforestation-a-major-risk-to-brazilian-retailers/
- (10) Sustainability, 2018, https://ainfo.cnptia.embrapa.br/digital/bitstream/item/175817/1/26607.pdf
- (11) Dalberg interviews, 2019
- (12) World Bank, 2017, http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/268351520343354377/pdf/123948-WP-6-3-2018-8-39-22-AriasetalAgriculturalgrowthinBrazil.pdf
- (13) Sustainability, 2017, https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/1/158/pdf
- (14) RVTV, 2019, https://rvtv.com.br/2019/01/28/jair-bolsonaro-em-davos/
- (15) Estado de Minas, 2018, https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/internacional/2018/11/09/interna_internacional,1004516/agronegocio-ganha-forca-no-governo-bolsonaro.shtml
- (16) Globo, 2019, https://g1.globo.com/economia/agronegocios/noticia/2019/06/18/governo-anuncia-r-225-bilhoes-em-credito-para-pequenos-medios-e-grandes-produtores.ghtml
- (17) Ministério da Agricultura, 2019, http://www.agricultura.gov.br/noticias/ministerio-esclarece-que-nao-houve-corte-de-verbas-para-o-pronaf
- (18) Portal da Cidade, 2019, https://lucasdorioverde.portaldacidade.com/noticias/economia/agricultura-familiar-pronaf-e-pronamp-tem-maior-orcamento-da-historia-2905
- (19) Notícias Agrícolas, 2019, https://www.noticiasagricolas.com.br/videos/agronegocio/237445-investidores-estrangeiros-e-urbanos-poderao-financiar-producao-agricola-no-brasil.html#.XRKyQutKipo
- (20) Notícias Agrícolas, 2019, https://www.noticiasagricolas.com.br/noticias/politica-agricola/237412-entenda-o-plano-safra-1920-e-o-financiamento-estrangeiro-atraves-de-certificados-do-agro.html#.XRKzLutKipp
- (21) Senado Notícias, 2019, https://www12.senado.leg.br/noticias/materias/2019/05/08/secretario-do-mapa-anuncia-novo-cadastro-da-agricultura-familiar-para-junho
- (22) BNDES, 2019, https://www.bndes.gov.br/wps/portal/site/home/financiamento/produto/pronaf
- (23) Scientific Reports, 2018, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-19358-2
- (24) Abiec, http://www.abiec.com.br/download/sustainability.pdf
- (25) SDG Tracker, 2021. https://sdg-tracker.org/
- (26) Vox Lacea, 2016. https://vox.lacea.org/?q=blog/perspectives_rural_women_brazil
- (27) Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce INC, 2018. https://brazilcham.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/agriculture-report-1.pdf
- (28) Kaeté Investimentos, 2015. http://www.kaeteinvestimentos.com.br/portfolio-items/dom-porquito/?lang=en