In the wake of Mad Cow disease, many consumers are clamoring for
soy-fed as opposed to animal-fed cattle. Unfortunately, this
apparent improvement has had a devastating effect on the Brazilian
state of Mato Grosso, where large swaths of grasslands and forests
are being converted into soybean fields and cattle ranches.
Spearheaded by Blairo Maggi, owner of agribusiness giant the Maggi
Group and Mato Grosso’s governor, soy production is expanding
rapidly with help from the Brazilian government, private
investment, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). As the
number of soybean farms increase, cattle farmers are forced to
create new land further into the forest, making soy the most
prominent catalyst for deforestation. Maggi, whose nickname is ‘The
Soybean King,’ has further aided this environmental decimation by
establishing a transportation infrastructure that has hastened the
expansion.
IFC, the World Bank’s private-lending arm, has played a critical
role in soy’s jungle takeover. When administering two back-to-back
$30 million loans to the Maggi Group, it classified the soy
expansion project with a Category B environmental rating,
indicating limited social and environmental impact. Brazilian NGOs
protested this categorization, claiming that Maggis activities
deserved a Category A rating, which indicates significant
environmental impact on the Amazon’s fragile ecosystem. The World
Bank is now conducting an audit on the Maggi loans, promising an
independent review with public results.
— Brendan Themes
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Paving the
Amazon with Soy
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