São Paulo – Increased production of sustainable plant-based biofuels, spreading the use of geotechnology in crop management, stepping up animal health initiatives. These are some of the paths Brazilian agribusiness have followed, showing that the world’s largest exporter of soybean, maize, coffee, sugar, orange juice, beef and chicken works hard to be at the forefront of the new major trends in the sector and to cater to global needs.
Talks held at the Global Agribusiness Festival (GAFFFF), which is taking place at the Allianz Parque in São Paulo show where the leading efforts of Brazilian agribusiness are headed. “Globally, the Brazilian model is being an example of how to quickly solve major challenges. Biofuel is the most efficient way to affordably fight climate change in a large scale,” Guilherme Nastari, director at agriculture consultancy Datagro, which helds GAFFF alongside Brazilian brokerage XP, told ANBA.
Biofuels were on the agenda of the festival as part of a larger solution for a world that requires less transport emissions. The Brazilian biodiesel output, for example, is the world’s third largest, made of 80% soy and 20% other products like animal fats, which otherwise would be polluters, according to Francisco Turra, chairman of the board at producers association Aprobio and former agriculture minister.
“Climate change came for real, and Brazil is the antidote,” Turra told the audience. “A leading carbon emitter is fossil fuel, which will have to be substituted – there’s no other way,” he argued. According to his presentation, the biofuel market is expected to grow five-fold by 2050, with half of the global production coming from Asia, Brazil, and the United States.
Brazil is already the world’s second leading producer of sugarcane-based ethanol and is on the track to become a giant in corn ethanol. According to Guilherme Nolasco, the executive president of the National Corn Ethanol Union (UNEM), corn already accounts for 20% of Brazil’s ethanol production. He argues that ethanol adds value to corn and liberates sugarcane to be used as an input to sugar, thus contributing to this global market. Brazil uses ethanol both as an individual fuel and blended into gasoline.
Talks at GAFFFF also show how Brazil works deftly in animal health. State University of São Paulo (Unesp) Professor Iveraldo Dutra presented the One Health system, a global model used in Brazil that integrates human, animal, plant and environmental health. In the case of agribusiness, agriculture defense makes its actions based on this. “We have an extraordinary livestock, an extraordinary poultry production, and a world-reference agricultural defense.
According to him, animal diseases accounted for over 20% of global losses in meats, milk and eggs. In such context, Professor Dutra called for a food health security based on the One Health concept as a way to reduce hunger and poverty and fight food insecurity in a world whose population is rapidly growing. According to his presentation, each human living until 72 years consumes eight oxen, 570 chickens, 10,00 eggs and 9,000 liters of milk, among other foods.
Talks at GAFFFF also showcased the gains in efficiency that agribusiness has achieved by using new technologies. Tech-savvy agribusiness entrepreneurs presented agtech established to collaborate with the Brazilian agricultural production and even accelerate it. One of them was Rafael Coelho, a son of farmers and cofounder of Sette and CEO of A de Agro. Sette does crop monitoring with satellite image to help in the relationship between farmers and banks. It’s a technology company focused on credit.
Agribusiness for the world
Most speakers presented the Brazilian agribusiness as a crucial sector for both domestic and global consumption. “There can be no borders for foods. Brazil can be proud of having plenty of food and contribute to the world’s food security,” said Ricardo Santin, president of industry lobby ABPA.
Guilherme Nastari told ANBA that the Brazilian agribusiness is at its peak of domestic and international recognition. “The city now understand the chain value and the economic relevance of the farms to Brazil, and a major example is this event here, in the country’s economic capital.”
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The festival gathers discussions, business fair, gastronomy, and entertainment at the Allianz Parque football stadium. The Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce is a supporter and was represented in the first day of the event by its new business director Estevão Margotti de Carvalho alongside the head of international consultancy and CCAB Lab, Karen Mizuta.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda