Transforming Markets in Brazil

In Brazil, IDH promotes sustainable development through a landscape approach combining economic growth, social progress, and environmental protection.

At the heart of this work are the Produce, Preserve/Conserve, and Include (PPI/PCI) Compacts, which are part of IDH’s global strategy implemented in multiple regions worldwide. These compacts unite stakeholders around voluntary, long-term commitments to deliver collective results across its three pillars.

Through this approach, IDH, together with key private sector partners, implements initiatives such as the Sustainable Production of Calves Program and Raízes da Caatinga, which put the PPI principles into action on the ground by empowering farmers, engaging companies, and driving landscape-level impact across Brazil’s diverse regions. 

Cattle ranching is a major driver of deforestation in Brazil, particularly in the Amazon biome. To tackle this, back in 2019, IDH partnered with the private sector to create the Sustainable Production of Calves Program.

The program aims to reshape cattle production in Brazil by improving cattle breeding across economic, environmental, and social fronts. It provides farmers with a full package of technical and management support, including traceability tools, through a protocol coordinated by the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA). Implementation began in 2019 in Mato Grosso State and was expanded to Pará State in 2023, Brazil’s two largest cattle-producing states. 

IDH works together with partners such as Carrefour, Mars Petcare, Marfrig, the Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of Pará (FAEPA), and the Association of Cattle Producers of Mato Grosso (ACRIMAT). Fieldwork and direct technical assistance are further implemented through partnerships with Natcap, Instituto BioSistêmico (IBS), and Senar-PA.

So far, it has supported more than 600 calf producers, with a goal to reach around 1,200 by 2026. Over 200,000 animals have already been registered through the program. Other key objectives include conserving more than 290,000 hectares of forest and implementing sustainable practices across over 95,000 hectares of pasture.

Through the recently launched docu-series, farmers share firsthand how the program has transformed their cattle production and brought positive change to their lives and communities.

One of the country's most important carbon sinks and a uniquely Brazilian biome, the Caatinga is also among the most vulnerable, increasingly threatened by land-use change and climate change.

The Raízes da Caatinga Program was launched in 2021 by IDH, in partnership with the Laudes Foundation. It brings together public, private, and civil society actors through shared commitments to promote sustainable territorial development, restoration and conservation of the Caatinga biome, and social inclusion.

The program operates across three key states in central Brazil, guided by a long-term strategy built on collaboration and impact-driven investments and through the Produce, Protect, and Include (PPI) Compacts. Producer Service Centres (CAPs) offer farmers practical guidance and technical support on land and environmental regularisation, Rural Environmental Registration (CAR), access to public policies, and participation in new initiatives.  

The program’s Impact Investment Projects help strengthen agroecological and gender-equitable value chains, boost cooperatives and agro-industries, expand market access, and enhance biome conservation and restoration. IDH delivers the program in partnership with Diaconia, World Resources Institute (WRI Brasil), and the Centre for Sustainability Studies at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGVces). 

The mini Caatinga docu-series shares powerful stories of people transforming Brazil’s Sertão region. Showcasing people's innovative, sustainable, and inclusive solutions under the themes of Production, Protection, and Inclusion, the series also sheds light on the power of women’s inclusion as a driver of change.