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- Convenors:
-
Paulina Flores-Martínez
(University of York)
Ângela Camana (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil)
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- Chairs:
-
Marília Luz David
(Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul)
Tomaz Fares (University of York)
- Discussant:
-
Tony Heron
(University of York)
- Format:
- Roundtable
Short Abstract:
This roundtable debates the social and environmental justice of the Brazilian soy chain, focusing on: a) the sustainability governance mechanisms as tools for designing futures for the chain; and b) the implications for the soy chain's future stemming from polarity shifts in global economic power.
Long Abstract:
Long gone are the days when the configuration of and participation in agri-food supply chains was heralded as the best means for the developing non-industrialised economies. At present, agri-food supply chains are synonymous with mixed, if not contradictory, development outcomes. Generally, while these supply chains provide economic expansion and development opportunities for some agri-food actors, they are equally associated with adverse effects upon others and more recently, with broader pervasive impacts as per their inextricable association with environmental and climate crises. In this roundtable, we propose a debate on the intersections of social justice, development outcomes and the purposes behind sustainability governance for the Brazilian soy supply chain. The soy agro-industry is of extreme relevance for the domestic economy, as well as for global trade partners who rely heavily on its supply to meet food security goals. Crucially, in Brazil, the expansion of soy is the second deforestation driver behind the expansion of cattle pasture and land speculation. Hence, large corporations now face public regulations and growing demands from foreign stakeholders to set up traceability policies and uptake non-deforestation commitments. The roundtable will unpack two main ongoing phenomena. First, the sustainability governance mechanisms are characterised as instruments for imagining and designing possible futures for the chain. Secondly, the implications for the soy chain's future development stemming from polarity shifts in global economic power, namely an evolution toward South-South trade predominance. The proposed debate will be underpinned by an interdisciplinary approach incorporating anthropology, sociology, political economy and International Relations perspectives.