The Emerging Soybean Production Frontier in Southern Africa: Conservation Challenges and the Role of South-South Telecouplings

Soybean expansion has been a strong driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss in South America (SAM). Here, we highlight strong similarities in environmental, institutional, and other contextual conditions among SAM and Southern African (SAFR) dry forest and savanna regions, and compile evidence...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio, Kuemmerle, Tobias, Meyfroidt, Patrick, Le Polain de Waroux, Yann, Kreft, Holger
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/58065
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/58065
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:AGRIBUSINESS
CATTLE
DRY FOREST
LAND-USE CHANGE
SAVANNAS
SOYBEANS
TELECOUPLING
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/4.1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/4
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5.7
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5
Descripción
Sumario:Soybean expansion has been a strong driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss in South America (SAM). Here, we highlight strong similarities in environmental, institutional, and other contextual conditions among SAM and Southern African (SAFR) dry forest and savanna regions, and compile evidence for an emerging soybean production frontier in SAFR. Knowledge transfer, cooperation, and direct investment between SAM and SAFR countries constitute crucial elements of soybean expansion in Africa. Comparing maps of soybean suitability, biodiversity, and carbon revealed substantial and spatially diverse trade-offs, suggesting that the emerging soybean frontier in SAFR may poses major challenges for conservation. An increased focus of conservation science on agricultural expansion and intensification in SAFR, as well as strong environmental policies for balancing agricultural production and conservation goals, are needed to mitigate potentially large trade-offs. The coupling of production frontiers should be a vehicle for the transfer not only of agricultural technology and production models, but also of experiences in environmental governance on emerging agricultural frontiers.