From blind trade to visible impact

General

This project addresses risks in the soy supply chain from Argentina. The social and environmental risks primarily take place in the primary production process. This project focuses to avoid – and where needed restore – the impacts of soy on forests / ecosystems and people. However, the soy trade chain is a complex one due to a number of factors, among which:• Soy is produced in countries where sustainable land governance, including legal compliance to forest and labour legislation, is a challenge;• Suppliers of soy often do not sell their produce to the same customers each year;• Soy (meal) is mainly used for livestock feed, making it invisible for the end consumer, mostly requiring business to business solutions;• Soy is a low margin-high volume bulk commodity; gathered and transported in huge quantities. This makes separation of sustainable streams costly, and• The fear of additional costs in the sector is paramount, from farmers, to traders, to processors to retailers.This project will explore several temporary models / stepping stones to achieve field impact. These include "area mass balance" (supporting farmers to become certified in areas that link to the physical trade chain), and "direct trade" (companies directly supporting responsible production with credits and positive impact investments), as well as stepwise improvements and restoration of damage with farmers in risk zones.