The Amazon region has, both by design and default, figured in all climate discussions since the Rio Summit of 1992. As the curtains go up today on the 28th United Nations Climate Change conference, or COP28 for short, much attention will go the way of the leather industry which has been in the eye of a deforestation storm. But on Ground Zero, a pioneering zero-deforestation livestock farming system has just been launched and holds much promise.
The Certification of Origin and Traceability Implementation Initiative (COTI) has developed a system, which is based on the individual traceability of herds to ensure the monitoring of the animals at all stages of an operation until the arrival of the products to customers. In the near future, it will also be possible for the meat and leather buying market to access all the information on these products via an online platform, guaranteeing zero deforestation in these operations.
COTI Director Rafael Andrade sets the context behind this effort: "For many years, one of the main requests from national and international NGOs has been for the private sector to take a leading role in implementing actions that help combat deforestation and reduce carbon emissions, consequently decreasing the impact on nature.
"The COTI (initiative) promotes this implementation collaboratively, in alignment with all stakeholders in the supply chain—from the rural producer, through the processing industry, to the final brands, as a solution to these market requirements. COTI, with the union of various actors from civil society and the private sector, has the structure for greater visibility, investment potential, and engagement in the initiative."
The initiative was officially launched on 16 November at Brazil’s Marabá in the state of Pará right after the Beef on Track Dialogues—a series of panel discussions promoted by the Institute of Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification (IMAFLORA). Technical and field visits were conducted on 17 and 18 November in the municipalities of Xinguara and Rio Maria in Pará.
"As a leather chain, we want to get even closer to producers and brands. This is a robust protocol. It's complex and challenging, but together we'll get it done. We are moving away from batch traceability to individual traceability, with an integrated and digitalised system to offer our customers greater security," explains Evandro Durli, Director of Durlicouros (Durli Leathers), which organised the event.
The scope of the COTI movement includes the PRIMI protocol (Individual Traceability and Indirect Monitoring Program). Says Thiago Witzler, Director of the Animal Department at SBCERT, which is part of the initiative: "When we thought about PRIMI, we were looking at the livestock farming of the future. We use a European protocol as the basis to have the entire trajectory of the animal, within an integrated and up-to-date platform. This, in conjunction with COTI, ensures this quality up to the brands. Six years ago, if you said that to a livestock farmer, he would have left the room. Today, he listens to you. This change will be quick because all the links are involved."
Adds Jordan Timo Carvalho, Director of Niceplanet Geotecnologia: "The idea of creating this project came from our observation of the market. We understood that we needed to offer livestock farmers mechanisms to deliver compliant processes to the market. Our protocols follow recent protocols made by the EU and other countries, with a focus on industry. That's why we need to find methods for the market to increasingly value this initiative by producers.” Carvalho’s company, among other things, runs the SMGeo Indireto platform which registers, analyses and monitors socio-environmental measures of indirect suppliers in the livestock production chain.
Since the beginning of the pilot project implementation in July 2023, 40 farms in Pará are already participating in the initiative. Currently, more than 113,000 animals are being individually tracked and managed by a blockchain system. The expectation is that by the first half of 2024, the programme will reach the milestone of 200,000 heads of cattle with tracking.
