Inequality Interviews: Soybean Production in Brazil with Dr Claiton Marcio Da Silva

In this episode, we have interviewed Dr Claiton Marcio Da Silva on the historical context, the implications, the scale and more of soybean production in Brazil. Brazil is the largest soy producer in the world.   Unfortunately, soy production is characterized by a number of social injustices, like land grabbing and displacement of small farmers, and ecological harms, like the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and consequent biodiversity loss.   The EU’s consumption of soy, particularly for animal feed, perpetuates and exacerbates these harmful practices by big, foreign agri-businesses in Latin America. And it is only expected to increase.   Dr. Claiton Marcio da Silva, professor at Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul (UFFS) and expert in the history of soy agricultural, will join us to talk about these social and environmental harms of soy production, and the colonial implications of the global soy market.   MORE ABOUT DR. CLAITON MARCIO DA SILVA:   Claiton Marcio da Silva currently teaches at the Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul (UFFS) in Santa Catarina, Brazil. His studies on the environment, society, and modernization of Brazilian agriculture began in 2002. He completed his MA in history at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) with a thesis on rural youth in Southern Brazil. At Casa de Oswaldo Cruz (COC/Fiocruz), his doctoral dissertation explored the work of Nelson Rockefeller’s American International Association for Economic and Social Development (AIA).   Since then, his main topic of research has focused on agricultural modernization experiments, especially in Latin America. He is co-editor of "The Age of Soybeans" (White Horse Press, Forthcoming early 2023).   OUR FOOD OUR FUTURE   This episode is made as part of the Our Food Our Future initiative. The initiative, co-funded by the European Commission, is an international coalition of civil society organizations working towards changing the global food system to be sustainable and socially just. In Our Food Our Future Denmark, we try to bring issues of food justice to the forefront of public debate.    MELLEMFOLKELIGT SAMVIRKE AARHUS   We’ve got a lot going on in Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke, Aarhus. We are a Danish NGO that works for a more just and sustainable world, collaborating with global partners worldwide as part of the ActionAid Alliance.   Here in Aarhus we have over a hundred volunteers working together to run a not-for-profit cafe and campaign and educate in areas ranging from feminism and climate justice to anti-discrimination and economic inequality to queer issues and refugee rights.   You can come down to Cafe Mellemfolk every day but Sunday for amazing food, drinks, and events in a cosy cafe run by our lovely volunteers.   You can also get involved with our events, activities, and campaigns, and even running the cafe, as a volunteer yourself.   So check out Instagram and Facebook to find out more about our cafe and our campaigns, by looking up Cafe Mellemfolk or Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke, Aarhus or following the links in the episode notes.And check out Podbean, Youtube, and other podcast providers for more episodes, interviews, and cool stuff.  Thank you everyone for listening, and, until next time, goodbye! Our food our future campaign: https://ourfood-ourfuture.eu/ Café Mellemfolk: https://www.facebook.com/mellemfolk   This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ActionAid Denmark and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union