Beef Export Policies

Beef exports to the USA and other developed countries are widely regarded as a major cause of deforestation in the humid tropics of Latin America, a phenomenon described as the "hamburger connection". But more objective analysis shows that:

- Brazilian Amazonia now produces less than 5% of the beef supply of the country and historical rates have been even lower,
- Foot and mouth control measures have meant that frozen beef from South America (except Argentina, Uruguay and recently the extreme south of Brazil) has never had access to the US market,
- Declining global prices, and increased protection in the US market, have greatly reduced exports of beef from other Latin American countries in the 1980s and 1990s, while deforestation in those countries has continued.

Research/Appraisal Methods

Standard economic techniques correlating producer prices with physical indicators of deforestation over time will show any major links, or lack of links, between export policies and deforestation. To appraise potential new export policies (including animal disease control policies that open new export markets), it will firstly be important to assess realistically the additional demand represented by a new export market, and then the supply response of the national livestock production system to it. For a particular region, such as a forest frontier, it will be important to look historically at the relative contribution of price and different subsidies to the conversion of forest to pasture.

Policy Options

Export policies have, contrary to popular opinion, had relatively little effect on livestock-related deforestation. Policies to minimise livestock-related deforestation, or mitigate its effects, must address other policy pressures. Policy options to be considered are:

- Critical appraisal of road building
- Establishment of protected areas
- Land taxation
- Reform of land tenure
- Selective credit controls
- Investment in research and extension for intensification.
- Social policies behind the frontier

Key References

Faminow, M.D. and Vosti, S.A. 1998. Livestock-Deforestation Links: Policy Issues in the Western Amazon. In A Nell (ed.) Livestock and the Environment: International Conference, IAC, Wageningen.

Hecht, S.B. 1992. Logics of Livestock and Deforestation: the Case Of Amazonia. In Downing T.E., Hecht, S.B., Pearson, H.A. and Garcia-Downing, C. (eds.) Development or Destruction: The Conversion of Tropical Forest To Pasture in Latin America. Westview, Boulder.

Kaimowitz, D. 1995 Livestock and Deforestation in Central America in the 1980s and 1990s: A Policy Perspective. EPTD Discussion Paper, IFPRI, Washington DC, Click to view as Word document (further information including copies of the report can be obtained from IFPRI at http://www.iimi.org/ifpri)

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