After two years of debate, a forum of farmers, conservationists, workers, researchers, and human-rights advocates in Brazil recently reached agreement on an environmentally- and worker-friendly way to grow sugar cane. At a July meeting in Sao Paulo State, participants wrote up a set of voluntary standards. Sugar producers who meet the code will receive an eco-label, a green seal of approval.
The new program aims to reduce or eliminate the ecological and social problems caused by the sugar industry in Brazil, the world's leading producer. The forum was coordinated by Imaflora, a leading conservation group in Sao Paulo, with support from key social groups, agricultural and scientific institutions, and government agencies. The Dutch government provided financial support. "We choose to work on cane because of its environmental and economic importance in Brazil," said Luis Fernando Guedes Pinto, director of Imaflora's sugar project.
Imaflora and other conservation groups are particularly concerned about the impact of the sugar industry because many plantations replaced the rainforests along Brazil's Atlantic Coast, considered by biologists to be one of the most biologically diverse -- and most threatened -- habitats on Earth. In Sao Paulo State, fields of the bamboo-like cane now stretch to all horizons, covering some 15 million acres, or about six percent of the nation's farmland.
Participants at the July conference elected a commission to administer the eco-certification program. Imaflora and other private conservation groups will train teams of inspectors to evaluate farms against the new standards and promote the sugar from certified farms to the growing legions of consumers worldwide who seek socially and environmentally responsible products.
The standards address a number of tricky issues. For example, sugar cane fields are customarily burned before each harvest. The fires clear the thick foliage and Ginzu-sharp leaves, allowing machete-wielding workers easier access to the cane stalks. When sugar fields are aflame, soot rains on sugar country. Prohibiting burning may be good for residents' lungs, but poses a threat to workers, since the only alternative is to harvest cane with large machines. Thousands of cane cutters depend on harvest-season wages. The new standards call for a gradual phase-out of burning, to allow farmers and workers time to adjust to the change.
Leontino Balbo Jr. participated in the negotiations and manages a 17,290-acre farm that may be the model for the future. The farm provides good housing for workers, a school, medical clinic, and other amenities. Balbo uses biological controls instead of chemicals to fight pests, saving millions of dollars a year. A pioneer in the use of mechanical harvesting, he has stopped burning cane fields. His machines convert foliage into a thick mulch that enriches the soils and increases yields by 25 percent.
Lilian Marques represented a workers' union during the forum. "We could not imagine the power and popularity of certification even three years ago," she says, adding, "This has been a good process, leaving no one out."
**Contacts in Brazil: Imaflora, Av. Carlos Botelho, 853 sala 2, Piracicaba,
Sao Paulo, 13416-145, tel/fax 55 19 433 0234 or 422 6253
This article is provided from the Rainforest Alliance's Conservation Media Center,
based in San Jose,Costa Rica. For more information, contact Diane Jukofsky or Chris Wille,
Rainforest Alliance, Apdo. 138-2150, Moravia, San Jose, Costa Rica; Phone: 506-240-9383;
Fax: 506-240-2543; Email: infotrop@sol.racsa.co.cr
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