Commodities from Amazon Biome: A Guide to Choosing Sustainable Paths

Richard Luan Silva Machado, Rosangela Rodrigues Dias, Mariany Costa Deprá, Adriane Terezinha Schneider, Darissa Alves Dutra, Cristiano R. de Menezes, Leila Q. Zepka and Eduardo Jacob-Lopes ()
Additional contact information
Richard Luan Silva Machado: Rural Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, UFSM, Roraima Avenue 1000, Santa Maria 97105-900, RS, Brazil
Rosangela Rodrigues Dias: Rural Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, UFSM, Roraima Avenue 1000, Santa Maria 97105-900, RS, Brazil
Mariany Costa Deprá: Rural Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, UFSM, Roraima Avenue 1000, Santa Maria 97105-900, RS, Brazil
Adriane Terezinha Schneider: Rural Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, UFSM, Roraima Avenue 1000, Santa Maria 97105-900, RS, Brazil
Darissa Alves Dutra: Rural Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, UFSM, Roraima Avenue 1000, Santa Maria 97105-900, RS, Brazil
Cristiano R. de Menezes: Rural Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, UFSM, Roraima Avenue 1000, Santa Maria 97105-900, RS, Brazil
Leila Q. Zepka: Rural Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, UFSM, Roraima Avenue 1000, Santa Maria 97105-900, RS, Brazil
Eduardo Jacob-Lopes: Rural Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, UFSM, Roraima Avenue 1000, Santa Maria 97105-900, RS, Brazil

Commodities, 2025, vol. 4, issue 2, 1-22

Abstract: The exploitation of the Amazon biome in search of net profit, specifically in the production of cocoa ( Theobroma cacao ) and açaí ( Euterpe oleracea ), has caused deforestation, degradation of natural resources, and high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, highlighting the urgency of improving the environmental, economic and social sustainability of these crops. These species were selected for their rapid expansion in the Amazon, driven by global demand, their local economic relevance, and their potential to either promote conservation or drive deforestation, depending on the production system. This study analyzes the pillars of environmental, social, and economic sustainability of cocoa and açaí production systems in the Amazon, comparing monoculture, agroforestry, and extractivism to support forest conservation strategies in the biome. Analysis of the environmental life cycle, social life cycle, and economic performance were used to determine the carbon footprint, the final point of workers, and the net profit of the activities. According to the results found in this study, cocoa monoculture had the largest carbon footprint (1.35 tCO 2 eq/ha), followed by agroforestry (1.20 tCO 2 eq/ha), açaí monoculture (0.84 tCO 2 eq/ha) and extractivism (0.25 tCO 2 eq/ha). In the carbon balance, only the areas outside indigenous lands presented positive carbon. Regarding the economic aspect, the net profit of açaí monoculture was USD 6783.44/ha, extractivism USD 6059.42/ha, agroforestry USD 4505.55/ha, and cocoa monoculture USD 3937.32/ha. In the social sphere, in cocoa and açaí production, the most relevant negative impacts are the subcategories of child labor and gender discrimination, and the positive impacts are related to the sub-category of forced labor. These results suggest that açaí and cocoa extractivism, under responsible management plans, offer a promising balance between profitability and environmental conservation. Furthermore, agroforestry systems have also demonstrated favorable outcomes, providing additional benefits such as biodiversity conservation and system resilience, which make them a promising sustainable alternative.

Keywords: agroforestry system; carbon footprint; extractivism; life cycle assessment; monoculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 D4 E3 E6 F0 F1 F3 F4 F5 F6 G1 O1 O5 Q1 Q2 Q4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2813-2432/4/2/8/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2813-2432/4/2/8/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jcommo:v:4:y:2025:i:2:p:8-:d:1670423

Access Statistics for this article

Commodities is currently edited by Ms. Wendy Yu

More articles in Commodities from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().