Socio-Ecological Impacts and Sustainable Transformation Pathways of Soybean Cultivation in the Brazilian Amazon Region

Min Zhang (), Fernando Romero Wimer, Mengnan Zhou, Marcos Jardim Pinheiro and Paula Daniela Fernández
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Min Zhang: Center for American Studies, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Fernando Romero Wimer: Latin American Institute of Economics, Society and Politics, Federal University of Latin American Integration, Foz do Iguaçu 85870-650, Brazil
Mengnan Zhou: Center for American Studies, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Marcos Jardim Pinheiro: Latin American Institute of Economics, Society and Politics, Federal University of Latin American Integration, Foz do Iguaçu 85870-650, Brazil
Paula Daniela Fernández: Latin American Institute of Economics, Society and Politics, Federal University of Latin American Integration, Foz do Iguaçu 85870-650, Brazil

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-21

Abstract: This study examines the socio-ecological impacts of soybean cultivation in the Brazilian Amazon, a region of critical importance for global climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. It explores how the expansion of soybean cultivation in this region since the 1990s, driven by international demand and domestic policies, has triggered a series of unsustainable socio-ecological consequences, such as deforestation, overuse of agrochemicals, displacement of indigenous communities, and land tenure conflicts. Inadequate governance, at both national and international levels, has exacerbated these challenges, undermining efforts to balance soybean cultivation with sustainable development in Brazilian Amazon. Through a mixed analysis method, this study proposes pathways for sustainable soybean production in the Amazon, including extending the Soy Moratorium to the Cerrado, strengthening indigenous land rights, enhancing international cooperation, and adopting sustainable agricultural practices such as agroforestry. These findings contributes to reconciling soybean cultivation with sustainable development in the Brazilian Amazon.

Keywords: Amazon forest; soybean cultivation; deforestation; sustainable agriculture; international governance; indigenous rights (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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