An analysis of the deforestation risk associated to the Brazilian domestic consumption of beef products: a Pernambuco case study

Beef is one of the main sources of protein in the world and is responsible for providing food safety in many places. Its production follows a trend, in the last decades, of deforestation, mainly in the tropics, and emission of GHG gases. Brazil is the country that mainly represents this trend, being the biggest producer and exporter of beef in the world, primarily by the extent of several ecosystems. In this context, the Brazilian domestic market implies the highest deforestation risk, corresponding to approximately 80% of it. The complexity of tracing and analyzing the Brazilian domestic beef market encouraged the development of the APP Do Pasto ao Prato. This APP aims to diminish the complexity and facilitate the investigation of social and environmental problems related to meat (deforestation risk, fires, sanitary inspection, and slave labor) and ease society’s access to information about the meat bought in supermarkets. By that, this project brings an early investigation of the deforestation risk correlated to Brazilian beef, using Pernambuco, a northeastern state, as a study case for that matter, together with Do Pasto ao Prato APP. It will also be used as an element of comparison with other states and the exported beef. Both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained for those analyses. Beef products were analysed throughout the whole state of Pernambuco, with more than 1200 beef products through 22 cities, as the quantitative data. Interviews with stakeholders about their perception of the beef sector, policies, and its impacts, was done as qualitative data.