Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Beyond Borders

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Asia – LAC
    • Innovation and Technology
    • Investment Attraction
    • Public-Private Alliances
    • Regional Cooperation
    • Regional Integration
    • Trade & Investment Agreements
    • Trade Facilitation
    • Trade Promotion
  • Authors
  • Spanish

The Virtuous Path of Exports ‘Compatible’ with the Brazilian Amazon Forest

November 7, 2022 by Sebastián González - Guilherme C. Piereck Leave a Comment


Many times, when we talk about the Amazon, we tend to see its importance as the home of nearly half of the tropical carbon stocks in the world. But a detailed view shows that there is underlying economic potential to catalyze forest conservation and restoration with sustainable social and economic development activities through forest-compatible export diversification.  

This is the case for some communities, associations, and businesses located in the Brazilian Amazon states (“Amazônia”), which already produce and export 60 forest-compatible products such as black pepper, shelled brazil nuts, fish swim bladders, hearts of palm, cocoa and fresh pineapple.  

As explained by the Amazon 2030 Project (Coslovsky, 2021), whose methodology allowed to identify export potential in forest-compatible products as an alternative to promote regenerative and low-carbon development, forest-compatible products come from non-timber forestry extraction, agroforestry systems, tropical fisheries and fish farming, and tropical fruticulture.  

This term also indicates that they are fresh or minimally processed, are typical of regions with a humid tropical climate, and can be produced in a climate and nature-positive way without harming the environment, generating deforestation, or expanding the agricultural frontier. 

The IDB’s Trade and Integration Sector, with the support of Professor Salo Coslovsky, did further research to discover opportunities within Brazilian states.  

Room for growth 

The region has already begun to make some progress. Between 2017-2019, the export of the aforementioned 60 forest-friendly products generated US$ 295 million per year for Amazônia. It may seem like a significant number, but the opportunity is far greater: those same products generate US$ 160 billion a year in exports worldwide.  

The market share of the Amazon region is small relative to the world’s production, not only on average across the entire basket of forest-friendly products but in practically all the individual products, ranging from 7% in the black pepper market to 0.01% in the cocoa market and 0.002% in the fresh pineapples market. 

The only exception is in the Brazil nuts in shell market, where Amazônia has a 50% share. However, a more detailed analysis reveals that its firms dominate the least significant and sophisticated step of a larger value chain. 

The role of Brazilian states  

The recent analysis shows that the ability to export varies considerably between different Brazilian states from Amazônia. Businesses based in the state of Pará, for example, generate US$ 256 million per year by exporting 43 of the 60 forest-friendly products to 89 different countries. The state of Rondonia, on the other hand, obtains only US$ 3 million by exporting 11 products. This heterogeneity suggests that each state faces different challenges in expanding its exports. 

Pará, for instance, must retain or expand its lead. Rondonia, on the other hand, must build its capabilities almost from scratch along all margins. In other cases, the difference between states is more subtle but no less significant. For example, both the states of Amapá and Amazonas export their products to relatively high-income countries. Still, Amapá exports large volumes of few products to few destinations (mostly açaí puree to the U.S).  

For this reason, its main challenge is to diversify its portfolio and reach more countries without compromising on quality.  

On the other hand, Amazonas exports smaller volumes of many different products to a large number of countries. Its challenge is to export larger volumes of the products it already exports. 

Comparison of exports by State 

Forest-Compatible Products 

By analyzing the products exported by each state, we also identified a significant degree of territorial specialization. It is reasonable to assume that part of this specialization results from geographical and ecological differences between states. But an important part of this specialization is likely caused by barriers to disseminate skills and knowledge across states, and other aspects linked to market access.   

Unlocking the export potential 

The recent analysis shows that Amazônia already knows how to produce forest-friendly products with enough proficiency to compete successfully in the global market. It also confirms that this region is only scratching the surface of its potential, with substantial differences and disparities among states. 

To unlock the potential, further analysis of the territory’s root causes is critical. This can be associated, for example, with low levels of capacity building (like education and skills), high costs associated with accessing markets (like broadband, electricity, transport, and logistics), low availability of export-related services (like training, verification/certification, packaging, and labels), and informality.  

However, many of the production factors needed are already available in the region itself. The challenge is to mobilize them efficiently while maintaining environmental sustainability.  

In conclusion, the sustainable promotion of forest-compatible products could help drive environmental sustainability. It could also provide better standards of living for small producers and local populations of a diverse region composed of more than 35 million inhabitants. 


Filed Under: Trade Facilitation, Trade Promotion

Sebastián González

Sebastián González Saldarriaga se incorporó al Sector de Integración y Comercio (INT) del BID en 2020 y actualmente su trabajo se enfoca en apoyar varias iniciativas de integración regional. Su trabajo de investigación y operativo se centra en la Iniciativa Amazonía del BID, la cual tiene como objetivo promover modelos de desarrollo sostenible basados en el capital humano, la biodiversidad y el patrimonio cultural de la región. Sebastián también participa en un nuevo proyecto que analiza el potencial de descarbonización de las cadenas de valor específicas en los países andinos. Anteriormente, fue asesor de la Oficina de la Presidencia del BID (2011-2020) y entre 2006-2008 trabajó en la División de Finanzas e Infraestructura como consultor de investigación. Antes de unirse al BID, trabajó en las áreas corporativas del Grupo Pão de Açúcar en Sao Paulo, Brasil. Sebastián tiene un MBA de Thunderbird School of Global Management, un BA en Estudios Internacionales y Geografía de la Universidad de Miami (Coral Gables, FL). Tiene Certificados en Gestión de Negocios Internacionales y Desarrollo Económico de la Universidad de Georgetown y la Escuela de Gobierno Kennedy de Harvard, respectivamente. Es un hablante nativo de español y habla inglés y portugués con fluidez.

Guilherme C. Piereck

Guilherme C. Piereck é Especialista Sênior da Divisão de Comércio e Investimento, Setor de Comércio e Integração do Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento (Grupo BID), desde 2010. Ele atua em projetos de fomento ao comércio, investimentos e integração. Antes de se juntar ao BID, ele trabalhou como advogado empresarial para os escritórios de advocacia Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and Walker (EUA); Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (EUA); e Veirano Advogados (Brasil), nas áreas de direito empresarial, fusões e aquisições, energia renovável, direito regulatório e financiamento de operações estruturadas. Guilherme possui mestrado conjunto na Northwestern University das faculdades Kellogg School of Management (C.M., 1999) e Pritzker School of Law (LL.M.,1999), e recebeu uma bolsa de estudos da Fundação Estudar. É formado em direito pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas (1994), e é fluente em português, inglês, espanhol e italiano.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

Search

Integration Trade

On this blog, the IDB Integration and Trade Sector shares reflections on the role of trade, investment, cooperation, and regional integration for development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Subscribe and join the conversation.

Related posts

  • Why is export diversification so urgent?
  • Five Findings About the Impact of the Depreciations on Latin American Exports
  • How did a Paraguayan SME manage to overcome barriers and the cost of information to offer a top product that meets international standards?
  • How Competitive Are Latin American Exports?
  • Exporting Amazonian Copoazú: A Journey to International Markets

Categories

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

Blog posts written by Bank employees:

Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


For blogs written by external parties:

For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

Aviso Legal

Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

facebook
twitter
youtube
This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
To learn more about cookies, click here
X
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT