Pork global value chain: Chinese, American and European corporations deforesting Brazilian biomes
Abstract
Chinese, American and European corporations in the pork global value chain (GVC) use soybeans as a key input to feed pigs. This research answers the following questions: what were the ten main soybean exporting corporations in Brazil in 2020? How much did they deforest? What biomes did they affect? Is the trade relationship between Brazil and China part of their industry or does it correspond to an extractive reality? and, does the pork CGV corroborate the benefits of participating in the CGV indicated by the World Bank? Using the methodology “Spatially Explicit Information on Production Systems for Consumption” (SEI-PCS), it is established that: Cargill, Bunge, ADM, Louis Dreyfus, COFCO, Amaggi, COAMO, Gavilon, Glencore and Engelhart corporations deforested 1.67 times the surface of Rio de Janeiro, only in 2020, affecting the biomes: pampa, cerrado, Amazon, etc. Using the “Multi-Country Product Input Matrix” (MIPMP) methodology and the “UNCTAD-Eora GVC” database, an extractivist dependency is shown that promotes a re-primarization in the Brazil-China relationship (the largest pork consumer), producing social and environmental deterioration contrary to the World Bank’s statements regarding GVC.
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