Case Study

Transforming the Soy Supply Chain in South America

Integrating Agriculture and Conservation Efforts in Three Key Biomes.
Agribusiness Strategy and Growth Advisory Climate Finance

The Challenge

South America produces more than 50% of the world's soy, driving deforestation in Brazil and other South American countries. Created with an investment from Cargill and managed by Chemonics, the Land Innovation Fund (LIF) supports farmers in their journey towards deforestation and conversion-free agriculture, equipping them with the tools and innovative technologies to conserve forests and native vegetation on a landscape level and respond to international sustainability protocols.

Our Solution

Innovative, farm-focused solutions incentivize sustainable, climate-smart supply chains.

In three critical South American biomes – the Cerrado, the Gran Chaco, and the Amazon – Chemonics is delivering cutting-edge solutions for a conversion-free soy supply chain. By promoting the value of standing forests and the adoption of sustainable, low-carbon agriculture on a landscape level, we are demonstrating that integrating agriculture and conservation offers significant value for farmers and other agricultural stakeholders. Project delivery includes:

  • Grants and Technical Assistance: Awarding grants and providing technical assistance to local, regional, and international stakeholders who are developing a pipeline of quality projects with high impact.
  • Building Partnerships: Funding projects implemented in consortiums or networks with multiple players – farmers, the public and private sectors, research and development centers, academia, startups, and civil society organizations– to pool efforts, resources, and expertise.
  • Open Innovation: Engaging early-stage climate and agri-tech startups in South America through open innovation and acceleration processes, awarding seed funding to pilot technological innovations. We champion open innovation applied to supply chain sustainability, connecting startups, farmers, academia, and large corporations to address real-world agricultural challenges.
  • Outreach and Communications: Maintaining a robust and permanent public presence through websites, social media, conventional media/public relations, and engagement initiatives such as events and dialogues to focus attention on the need to scale up innovation for sustainable agriculture.
  • Impact Monitoring: By tracking the performance, results, and impacts of its entire portfolio, LIF utilizes data to inform programmatic direction, adaptive management strategies, and effectively communicate the importance of its work.

The Impact:

Financing a More Sustainable, Resilient Landscape

With Chemonics’ support, LIF has built an impactful portfolio of 50 projects with 60 partners across Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, the United States, and Europe.

  • A $15 million investment in grants and technical assistance, which successfully leveraged an additional $37 million in funding.
  • By directly engaging more than 3,000 farmers on sustainable and low-carbon agriculture activities, the program avoided deforestation of more than 200,000 hectares, reached over 10 million hectares of farmland and high conservation value areas, and conducted carbon monitoring, reporting, and verification on over 540,000 hectares.
  • Through open innovation and acceleration processes, LIF partnered with more than 50 climate and agri-tech startups and awarded $1.2 million in seed funding to pilot cutting-edge technological solutions.
  • Our robust outreach & communications strategy has secured 800+ media placements in key global outlets (CNN Brasil, Forbes, Reuters), generating USD $23 million in earned media value and amplifying LIF’s message worldwide.