"There is value in the RTRS Standard, but it could still be so much better," says Jochen Koester, a consultant to the European Commission and major retailers, who was part of the original RTRS working group. Europe uses 34 million tons of soy a year, Cruzans points out, and the WWF is working with large industries to make production as sustainable as possible.īut critics ask just how much of an impact the roundtable, which hosted its annual conference earlier in May in Brazil, can have? Is it merely greenwashing, a money-making scheme to lure eco-conscious customers, or does the eight-year-old program hold actual merit? There are two companies in Paraguay with RTRS certification, comprising a total of 20,000 protected acres, according to the WWF.Ī bulk of the soy is shipped raw to the European Union, its second largest importer, mostly to plump up pigs and cattle, and contribute to the growing biofuels industry. Paraguay, whose three million hectares of soybean has expanded to nearly three times the yield of 1998, is one of four countries taking part. Through the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) initiative, kick-started in 2006 by the World Wildlife Fund, soy producers agree to adhere to standards such as avoiding cultivation in areas deemed to have a high conservation value, and maintaining or strengthening the supply or local ground and surface water. “We’re looking to bridge the gap between small farmers feeling the effects of mass soy production, and large producers wanting to grow their profits,” says Sumaia Cruzans, communications coordinator at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Asunción, Paraguay’s capital. The result is rampant deforestation and intensive land use, prompting environmentalists to continue pushing for the crop to be produced in a more ecologically and socially sustainable manner. The oft-dubbed “green gold” covers land that until the 1960s was heavily forested.ĭespite being a small, landlocked country in South America, Paraguay has grown into the world’s fourth largest exporter of soy, with the crop covering 80 percent of its agricultural land. In Eastern Paraguay, a sea of soy stretches as far as the eye can see, interspersed only by the occasional road or patch of maize.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |