The research, co-ordinated by ProVeg Brazil, was unveiled today at COP30 in Belém
Credit: Kawê Rodrigues
Research unveiled today at the COP30 climate summit has found that transitioning from livestock farming to plant-based agroforestry can increase the net income of Brazilian rural producers by 110% per hectare.
The study, called “Increasing Income, Respecting the Planet, Nourishing People” and written in Brazilian Portuguese, also found that, in exceptional cases, such as when low-productivity cattle farming gives way to plant-based agroforestry, an income increase of up to 1,525% can be achieved in biodiverse countries with high incomes and access to specialized markets.
The study, co-ordinated by ProVeg Brazil and carried out by Brazil’s Agroecology Cooperative Organization (OCA), serves to lay out a sustainable rural development route for Brazilian farmers, as well as cutting the countries’ emissions. Plant-based agroforestry captures more greenhouse gases than it emits, unlike livestock farming.
“Brazil doesn’t need to choose between a strong economy and climate protection,” Aline Baroni, executive director of ProVeg Brazil, said.
“Our findings show that plant-based agroforestry systems are key to a more resilient and equitable food production matrix, capable of generating more value on the same land area currently used for livestock farming, as well as regenerating degraded areas.”
“This solution involves encouraging family farming, agroecology, and prioritizing the production and consumption of plant-based foods,” she said.
Plant-based agroforestry has proven to be potentially more promising than any of the livestock farming types analysed – beef cattle, dairy cattle, poultry, and swine – across all Brazilian biomes, when assessing the potential for increased producer income.
By supporting family farming, the transition to agroforestry systems also fosters employment and diversification of income generation, potentially reducing rural migration. The ProVeg research revealed that for every R$1 million of annual production in plant-based agroforestry systems, 30 jobs are generated in the supply chain, whereas in livestock farming, on average, the same investment results in only 7 jobs.
Livestock farming raises concerns amid discussion about the climate crisis
Livestock production is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in Brazil, well ahead of transportation and energy, accounting for approximately 60% of the country’s total emissions, according to calculations based on data from the Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals Estimation System (SEEG).
This is partly due to enteric fermentation in ruminants, which emits methane, a gas with more than 80 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. Emissions from enteric fermentation in Brazilian cattle herds exceed the total emissions of Italy.
Furthermore, according to Mapbiomas, more than 90% of deforestation in the Amazon was caused by the opening of pastures between 1985 and 2023. The constant increase in animal production in the country – with only a slight decrease in 2024 – is directly linked to territorial expansion and deforestation, whether due to the need for new pasture areas for cattle herds or for monoculture areas of grains used mainly for animal feed. It is estimated that about three-quarters of the world’s soybeans are used for animal feed.
The research shows that plant-based agroforestry systems require 12 times less land than livestock farming to achieve the same gross revenue, contributing to the fight against deforestation and the regeneration of degraded areas.
“20% of the national territory is pastureland, of which 45-55% show some degree of degradation,” Baroni said.
“If we transform 12% of these degraded pastures into agroforestry systems, this would already contribute to more than 5% of Brazil’s entire national mitigation target described in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs),” she said.
EAT-Lancet
Dietary models aligned with these goals, such as the Planetary Health Diet (from the EAT-Lancet Commission), recommend that the basis of the diet should consist of plant-based foods such as legumes, grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, and moderate or reduced consumption of foods of animal origin.
The updated EAT Lancet report indicates that a global transition to predominantly plant-based diets could prevent up to 15 million annual deaths and significantly reduce agricultural emissions and pressure on ecosystems. According to EAT-Lancet, food systems are currently the main driver of transgression toward five of the six planetary boundaries that have already been exceeded—including land-use change, biosphere integrity, biogeochemical flows, and greenhouse gas emissions—while simultaneously failing to guarantee universal access to healthy diets.
In Brazil, despite the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population also indicating the prioritisation of a wide variety of plant-based foods, the consumption of animal products exceeds public health recommendations, with inadequate nutrition being one of the main factors associated with Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases (NCDs), the leading cause of death in the country.
Public and financial policies should leverage the transition
For plant-based agroforestry systems to reach their full scalability and effectively replace the current model, the ProVeg report underlines the need for coordinated action.
“The transition agenda depends on effective synergy, built between decision-makers, scientists, extension agents, and the farmers themselves, allowing plant-based agroforestry systems to move from being a secondary alternative to becoming a priority in sustainable rural development,” Baroni said.
From a public perspective, ProVeg Brazil proposes that the transition to agroforestry systems be elevated to a priority social, agrarian, food, and climate policy, obtaining more resources from programs such as Pronaf (a national programme for supporting family agriculture) and strengthening the specialised Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (ATER).
The study calls for the creation of a clear political strategy among ministries to reconcile the production of healthy and adequate food with the urgency of climate mitigation and environmental regeneration.
“The financial sector also has an indispensable transformative role. With restrictions on credit for livestock projects in deforested areas, the transition to agroforestry systems emerges as a channel through which financing can be directed, so that public and private banks can do their part in combating the climate crisis,” Baroni said.
Currently, the expansion of agroforestry systems is hampered by institutional and financial issues, such as unequal access to credit and the difficulty institutions face in managing and evaluating agroecological projects.
A pilot project for the transition is being carried out in Paraná
In the municipality of Ortigueira, Paraná, a family farmer has begun transitioning from livestock farming to a plant-based agroforestry system in a pilot project by ProVeg Brazil.
The Cultiva Project is offering free technical support to the farmer to gradually replace dairy and beef cattle with an agroforestry system where he will produce beans, corn, bananas, watermelon, papaya, and pumpkin, which will supply the region’s school canteens.
In a few years, coffee and yerba mate production will begin. Reforestation work, through the planting of native Atlantic Forest tree seedlings, is also being carried out as a fundamental part of the agroforestry system.
“In our assessment, we observed that animal production was not profitable for the producer and implied limitations such as a lack of food and agricultural diversity, limited autonomy, and a loss of quality of life,” Baroni said.
“The expectation is that plant-based production will generate income more than 10 times higher than that of animals in the first year of transition,” she said.
The transition plan was developed in direct collaboration between ProVeg Brazil and the producer, also counting on important contributions from the Federation of Rural Workers and Family Farmers of Paraná, and the Rural Workers’ Union of Ortigueira. Planting began in October 2025 and the first seeds have already started to sprout.
“This pilot project will demonstrate, in practice, the viability and economic and technical benefits of transitioning from livestock farming to agroforestry systems, inspiring public policies that more broadly promote fairer and more sustainable agriculture,” Baroni said.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For media inquiries about ProVeg Brazil, contact Victoria Sena at [email protected].
For inquiries to ProVeg International, email [email protected]
For scientific data about the benefits of plant-based eating, see our Food System Data website.
About ProVeg International
Our vision is a world where everyone chooses delicious and healthy food that is good for all humans, animals, and our planet. ProVeg International is a food awareness organisation with the mission to replace 50% of animal products globally with plant-based and cultivated foods by 2040.
