Agriculture in Brazil: impacts, costs, and opportunities for a sustainable future

▶ Brazil is at an important juncture in terms of sustainable development. The recent decline observed in deforestation rates in the Amazon region coupled with evidence showing that socio-economic development - not just economic growth - can be achieved with agriculture in southeast Brazil give us reason to be cautiously optimistic about the future. ▶ Sustainable development in Brazil will depend on the country's ability to intensify its livestock sector and modernize its crop sector with the joint objectives of reducing expansion and exploitation of natural ecosystems and promoting social equity and poverty alleviation. We realize that this is a daunting task that cannot be achieved in a few years. ▶ Brazil can set a pioneering example. The ability of Brazil to follow a path that integrates socio-economic development with environmental preservation will have major consequences not only for Brazil, but also for other tropical countries and the rest of the world. Failure to lead on a sustainable development pathway would represent a major missed opportunity for the improvement of human and natural systems, one that would have global repercussions.