Fund showcases gran chaco projects at an international congress
The Land Innovation Fund and its partner institutions discuss how to achieve synergies and maximize results during the CREA 2022 Congress.
The Land Innovation Fund is at the CREA 2022 Congress from September 14 to 16 in Buenos Aires, one of the most important and traditional agribusiness meetings in Argentina. At the invitation of the Argentine Association of Regional Consortia for Agricultural Experimentation (AACREA), the Fund is participating in a working meeting with leaders of the four projects being carried out in the country by eight partner institutions, to discuss opportunities for synergy and to maximize the scope of sustainable agriculture initiatives that are deforestation-free, with no conversion of native vegetation in the Gran Chaco biome. Covering topics such as carbon markets, traceability and monitoring, responsible agricultural production models, and the creation of transnational sustainability protocols for soy, the projects cover an area of more than 350 thousand hectares in the Chaco, confirming the Land Innovation Fund's commitment to support innovative solutions to address some of the biggest challenges on today's environmental agenda.
The institutions in the Fund's portfolio in Argentina are AACREA, CIARA, the ProYungas Foundation, and Solidaridad Regional, which operate in a consortium with other major partners in the region. The ProYungas Foundation, working on conservation and sustainable development, in partnership with the Argentine No-Till Farmers' Association (AAPRESID) and Paraguay's Moisés Bertoni Foundation, will support the adoption of good agricultural practices and carbon sequestration on five pilot farms in the Gran Chaco biome. The Argentine Association of Regional Consortia for Agricultural Experimentation (AACREA) has teamed up with the Argentine Association of the Soy Supply Chain (ACSOJA) to set up sustainable development models with at least 100 farmers in the country. The Argentine Edible Oil Association (CIARA), in partnership with Peterson-Control Union (PCU) and the Rosario Board of Trade, will implement an integrated platform to monitor and verify all the soy sold in Argentina. And Solidaridad Regional, in partnership with institutions from Bolivia and Paraguay, will chart and define sustainable soy criteria and protocols for the region, aligned with international market recommendations.
The four projects underway in Argentina will expand the Land Innovation Fund's operations in the Gran Chaco, a biome covering approximately 850,000 km2 in areas of Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina that since the 1990s, and especially since 2000, has experienced one of the world’s highest rates of deforestation, due to growing pressure to convert natural ecosystems into farmland, especially for soy farming. Partners from various fields, ranging from the third sector to the public sphere, including trade associations, will all help lay the basis for the Fund's 360° presence in one of Latin America's most environmentally vulnerable areas. "The initiatives stimulate dialogue among multiple voices on the regional sustainability agenda and seek shared solutions for sustainable agricultural development, climate change mitigation, and enhancement of region’s standing forests," according to the director of the Land Innovation Fund, Carlos Quintela.
Since it began working in South America in January 2021, the Land Innovation Fund has developed a portfolio of 28 projects implemented by 34 partners selected through funding rounds or by direct invitation to strategic local institutions. In common, the actions, projects and initiatives all promote the development of an innovation landscape for sustainable and climate-smart soy supply chains in three priority biomes: the Cerrado, Gran Chaco and the Amazon. "We know that complex issues require innovative solutions along multiple avenues, from responsible agricultural practices to sustainable, development-friendly public policies, from funding mechanisms that pay for environmental services to multi-stakeholder participation in the sustainability debate. We want to be catalysts for innovation towards a green, climate-smart economy," explains Carlos E. Quintela, director of the Land Innovation Fund.
The Fund began working in Argentina in 2021 with a program to strengthen multi-sector dialogue platforms for a positive soy agenda in the Gran Chaco region. Led by Solidaridad, the project culminated with a regional meeting of 40 representatives from three countries – Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay – that discussed solutions to promote sustainable agricultural practices and strengthen the capacity of government and civil society to monitor and implement environmental legislation. "The project with Solidaridad was the starting point for the Fund in the biome, as it identified key players and gained a better understanding of regional and transnational needs for the soy chain," explains the Fund's manager Ashley Valle.
The panel at the CREA Congress reaffirms the Land Innovation Fund's plans to expand its work in South America. The event is a chance to chart scenarios, challenges, and opportunities to design upcoming stages. "More than increasing the number of projects, we want to enhance the scope of these initiatives and the diversity of the projects. Our goal is to build a portfolio of projects and partners, to jointly implement innovative solutions that will change agriculture, always focusing on farms and farmers," in Ashley Valle's words.
Read about the Fund's initiatives and partners in the region.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND PRODUCTIVE SUSTAINABILITY IN THE CHACO: Creating innovative and sustainable agricultural production models for the Gran Chaco region is what this project by the Argentine Association of Regional Consortia for Agricultural Experimentation (AACREA), in partnership with the Argentine Association of the Soy Supply Chain (ACSOJA), aims to achieve. With at least 100 farmers on about 250,000 hectares of the biome in Argentina, the initiative aims to establish and validate models for ecological intensification through agriculture that maintain or increase farmers' incomes, reduce crop losses, conserve natural areas within farms, restore degraded soils and environments, and apply environmental indicators especially for soil carbon and biodiversity.
VISEC: A MONITORING PLATFORM FOR THE GRAN CHACO: This proposal by the Argentine Edible Oil Association (CIARA), in partnership with Peterson-Control Union (PCU) and the Rosario Board of Trade, is to establish an innovative traceability and monitoring platform to assess the environmental, social and economic impacts of soy and other commodities produced in priority areas of Argentina, starting with the Gran Chaco. The VISEC platform will combine, in a single system, monitoring and verification data for all the soy traded in Argentina, unifying relevant sustainability parameters and requirements for the grain's sale. The initiative entails contributions and the participation of various players, from farmers to exporters and NGOs, and aims to generate reliable and publicly accessible data in a transparent manner, to produce and market essential goods in an environmentally sustainable way, especially soy and its by-products.
BEST AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION: The ProYungas Foundation, in partnership with the Argentine No-Till Farmers' Association (AAPRESID) and the Moisés Bertoni Foundation, will promote the adoption of best agricultural practices and stimulate the conservation and restoration of native vegetation on soy farms in the Gran Chaco biome, helping to mitigate climate change and enhance the value of standing forests. The project will be implemented in five pilot soybean farms in Argentina and Paraguay, on at least 50,000 hectares, where carbon emissions from production activities will be quantified; the carbon stock of the native vegetation will be evaluated; farms will be classified by category (carbon emitter, neutral carbon, or carbon sink); an internationally accredited carbon offset project will be implemented; and an online information platform will be developed to ensure the projects' transparency.
SUSTAINABLE SOY IN THE PARAGUAYAN AND BOLIVIAN GRAN CHACO, Solidaridad Regional: This project will identify and define sustainable soy criteria and protocols for the Gran Chaco region, with a multisectoral approach to express consensus through tools for technological or regulatory innovation suited to local needs, in consultation with similar initiatives in neighboring Argentina and with the European Union's international sustainability agenda. Carried out in partnership with local institutions – potentially the National Association of Oilseed and Wheat Producers (ANAPO) in Bolivia and the Association of Farmers for a Sustainable Chaco (APACs) in Paraguay – the initiative will open the way to developing and implementing a variety of innovative solutions for public policies, compliance verification systems and tools, and governance.
About the CREA Congress:
Organized by one of Argentina's leading agricultural bodies, the CREA Congress promotes dialogue on sustainability among multiple stakeholders and seeks to move its participants to work for powerful and necessary changes in the real world. The event is also a strategic platform to cooperate in building bridges, a better present and a more prosperous future. With an estimated audience of more than 7,500 people, the Congress takes place on August 14, 15 and 16 at the La Rural convention center in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
About the Land Innovation Fund:
Initially funded by Cargill, and managed by Chemonics International, the Land Innovation Fund supports initiatives that promote a sustainable soy supply chain, free from deforestation and from conversion of native vegetation, generating positive economic and socio-environmental impacts in three of South America’s priority biomes: the Cerrado, the Gran Chaco and the Amazon. The Fund supports innovations that bring higher yields through sustainable practices, mechanisms and approaches, motivating farmers to conserve and restore native forests and vegetation, and mobilizing networks and resources to transform the soy supply chain.