Bioeconomy and Agri-food Systems

The Bioeconomy and Agri-food Systems is a highly strategic axis for Brazil. We possess the world's greatest biodiversity and the second-largest area of forests on the planet—the largest being tropical forest. Preserving our biomes and Brazilian ecosystems is therefore crucial not only for our society but also for global ecological balance and well-being.

Unlike most of the world, Brazil's primary source of greenhouse gas emissions is not the energy sector but rather illegal deforestation of the forest. Therefore, the challenge of the ETP is to create economic and technological solutions so that people can thrive while preserving the surrounding biomes. To achieve this, work is being done with a broad agenda of bioeconomy and agri-food systems to enable income generation with technology and with the forest intact.

To this end, the establishment of economic incentives favoring the adoption of sustainable practices is necessary.

The establishment of the National Bioeconomy Plan will enable the sustainable exploitation of biomes through investments in research and development. In this regard, in 2023, the Amazon Bioeconomy Center was restructured and strengthened, with the adoption of a more flexible legal framework and a clearer institutional mission, integrated with the productive sector.

Furthermore, specific projects for financing biotechnology under the FNDCT (National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development) were adopted, as well as partnerships with private research and development institutions, with the possibility of creating new value chains, new products, and new materials, such as in sectors like the bioindustry, biosafety, and biocosmetics.

It is also necessary to further advance sustainable agriculture in Brazil through the provision of technical assistance and the granting of credit for the development and dissemination of low environmental impact technologies, as well as the expansion of agroforestry systems. In this sense, the ETP has been encouraging the integration of the Harvest Plan and the ABC Plan—low-carbon agriculture, as well as promoting practices such as Integrated Crop-Livestock-Forest (ICLF) systems, agroforestry systems (AFS), no-tillage farming, and the use of bio-inputs.

Initiatives such as expanding the export of non-timber forest products can also contribute to the preservation of forests and biodiversity, thereby increasing Brazil's participation in the global market for this segment. Additionally, the creation of mechanisms for payment for environmental services in forest areas most vulnerable to pressure from deforestation, as well as the expansion of forest concessions and conservation units, can help preserve forests and biodiversity.

Axis 3: Bioeconomy and Agri-food Systems

• Biotechnology for sustainable exploration of biomes through investments in R&D.
• Integration between the Plano Safra and the Low Carbon Agriculture Program.

• Export of non-timber forest products

• Expansion of the area of forest concessions and conservation units.
• Incentive to productivity through the production of machinery and equipment tailored to the needs of family farming.
• International Fund for Forest Preservation.
• Arc of Restoration.