Multistakeholder Platform

Round 1PROJECTS

Sep 20

Written By Solidaridad Latinoamerica

Multi-stakeholder platform for sustainable soy in the Gran Chaco biome

Project pathways.png — **PATHWAYS**

pathways

**LOCATION**

Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay

Solidaridad and the Land Innovation Fund (LIF) worked to strengthen multistakeholder platforms in Argentina and Bolivia, and to develop a new multistakeholder platform in Paraguay, through dialogues involving different sectors of society to create an agenda for sustainable soy in the Gran Chaco biome, which has become a global deforestation hotspot. Throughout 2021, representatives from the public, private, and agricultural sectors of the three countries took part in a series of multi-sectoral meetings organized by Solidaridad to identify natural-resource management solutions to achieve a deforestation and conversion-free (DCF) soy supply chain for the entire biome. The grant activity culminated successfully in 2022 and resulted in the establishment of a tri-regional multistakeholder platform for promoting DCF policies in the Gran Chaco with the participation of 40 institutions from Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay. In addition, USD $684,000 was raised from other donors to fund priority projects in support of DFC objectives that were identified as result of the LIF-supported multistakeholder platforms.

Photo Credit: Solidaridad Archive

For Argentina, the platform dialogues highlighted the importance of strengthening the government's capacity to oversee its Forestry Law and the need for technological tools to enforce it, such as the VISOR territorial monitoring system. In Bolivia, the focus was on strengthening public institutions and civil society to improve land use and zoning policies and tools to enhance environmental monitoring and digital procedures for environmental licensing. In Paraguay, where soy production is starting to expand, the dialogues converged around strategic planning by the Association of Farmers for a Sustainable Chaco (APACS), to promote and foster technological and organizational innovation for rural development. Solidaridad also conducted a gender analysis of Argentina and Bolivia’s agricultural sectors, to be used in capacity-building activities and to enhance women's roles in regional farming.

Following on the successful muti-sectorial initiative, Solidaridad was invited to co-design and implement a project to identify and define criteria and protocols for sustainable soy production in the Paraguayan and Bolivian Gran Chaco. The new program began in the second half of 2022.

"With this multistakeholder platform, Solidaridad and the Land Innovation Fund are building a regional agenda aligned with global sustainable agriculture priorities. We will keep pushing for sustainable production, embracing legal and regulatory compliance, environmental and labor responsibility, respect for local communities, and economic viability and inclusion for the region."
- Agustin Mascotena, Program Manager at Solidaridad Argentina and Bolivia.