Brazil

On Monday october 15th, 2007, in Wageningen (The Netherlands), a conference is being held on "Sustainable Agriculture in Brazil. Responsable soy for food, feed and fuel" On this conference the Brazilian soy lobby, Brazilian minister of agriculture and researchers will talk about strategies to develop and 'realise'sustainable soy production. Various organisations however think that the emphasis should be to stop the expansion of soy production and consumption.

Why the production of agrofuels offers no solution to global climate problems, but rather creates and intensifies already existing social and ecological problems.

september 2007 - Reto Sonderegger, Asunción, Paraguay
Translation : Anton Pieper, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Presently the Amazonian rain forest is burning in 70.000 different places. The planet's green lung is getting more permeable while steadily drying out. The evapotranspiration capacities are being drastically decreased by the loss of biomass, the deforestation and slashing and burning to expand the cultivable land for soy and sugarcane, or the creation of new feedlots for the extensive cattle rearing. The blushing holds off and therefore consequentially also the rain. This results in an agricultural loss of production and some even fear an infernal conflagration that wipes out the rest of the dried out Amazonia.

The multinational Syngenta Seeds is pressuring the Governor of the State of Paraná to expel the family farmers of the Via Campesina currently residing on the Free Land encampment with police force.

The 120 families occupied the área more than a year ago, in protest to the environmental crime committed by Syngenta. The multinational illegally cultivated genetically-modified soy and corn at the site, within the protective zoner of the Iguaçu National Park. The family farmers demanded that Syngenta pay the fine of US$ 465,000, imposed on the corporation by the IBAMA, the federal environmental agency. In November of 2006, the Governor of Paraná expropriated Syngenta´s site, and planned to turn the area into an agroecological research center.