At the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, Pará Governor Helder Barbalho announced a significant plan to enhance transparency and traceability in the livestock supply chain of the Brazilian Amazon.
This plan involves the mandatory identification of animals in the state by 2026. Barbalho emphasised the dual benefits of this initiative: ensuring integrity and transparency in the region’s productive chain and supporting producers to access the advantages of traceability, thereby opening up new markets.
Leading the way in this initiative, JBS S.A. has committed to a pilot project in Pará, Brazil, focusing on individual cattle traceability. The company is investing $9 million over three years to support mandatory traceability and improve the livelihoods of small producers in the Amazon region.
This project aims to assist smallholders with the costs of animal identification tags and provide technical assistance, enabling them to sustainably earn a living in the Amazon without deforestation.
Gilberto Tomazoni, CEO of JBS Global, highlighted the significance of Pará’s announcement as a milestone in combating deforestation. He stressed JBS’s full support for this initiative, noting that complete traceability with government backing is crucial for eliminating deforestation.
Tomazoni also pointed out that economic challenges for local producers are a major driver of deforestation. To address this, JBS has begun offering financial assistance and technical expertise to producers for cattle tagging and tracking in Marabá, and is ensuring extension services are available across the state through four JBS Green Offices.
Key highlights of JBS’s investments include:
- A $1 million allocation to support individual cattle traceability, providing economic assistance to small producers for ID tags at the farm level.
- The establishment of four JBS Green Offices in Pará, offering technical expertise, extension services, and animal traceability services to producers. By 2026, these offices will receive an additional $600,000 in investments, aiding the regularisation of thousands of producers through the Sustainable Territories Platform.This state government program is designed to scale and effectively implement low-carbon socio-economic development initiatives in Pará.
- An investment of $76,000 in JBS’s Farm Grade 10 Program, aimed at improving management and productivity on livestock farms. Focusing on small producers, this program provides training for high-performance management, with the objective of maximising the performance of cattle farms in Pará without forest clearing.
This initiative marks a significant step in the sustainable management of livestock farming in the Brazilian Amazon, focusing on environmental integrity and economic development for local producers.
