Expertise on agricultural commodities
Natural rubber is part of a variety of everyday products, such as tires, latex gloves, mattresses or condoms. The acreage for rubber is growing rapidly. The consequences are deforestation, destruction of peatlands and land rights conflicts. More than 90 percent of the cultivation takes place in Southeast Asia, mostly in Thailand and Indonesia. The cultivation of rubber is very labor-intensive and 80 per cent of small-scale farmers are exposed to fluctuating world market prices
In the US, Brazil and Argentina, 80 percent of soy is produced. Rainforests and dry forests of the Cerrado and Gran Chaco are being cleared, especially in Latin America, for the extraction of new crops. There is the displacement of traditional land users. From 1990 to 2008 alone, soybean cultivation contributed to deforestation of 13 million hectares. This represents about 19 percent of all deforestation caused by the expansion of agricultural land. One of the reasons for this is an increased consumption of meat with increasing prosperity, because soy is mainly used as protein feed for chickens, pigs and cattle. In the form of tofu, soy milk or soy sauce, we consume only 6 percent of soybeans worldwide
Palm oil is contained in many products of our daily consumption and the demand in Germany is increasing. The largest share of palm oil exports is currently consumed by the energy sector, followed by the food industry and the animal feed sector. Indonesia and Malaysia produce 84 percent of the world's palm oil. Oil palm plantations are largely managed by large companies, but oil palm farming is also a significant source of income for small farmers. The business is lucrative for the producing countries, which is why primary forests are being cleared for new acreage. Associated with this is the loss of biodiversity and the release of climate gases through deforestation and cultivation on peat soils. That's why more and more companies in Europe are using certified palm oil.
Most of the bananas consumed in the EU are imported from Latin America, where 80% of them are grown on large plantations. The most important producer countries for the world market are Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Colombia. Germany is one of the biggest importers of bananas and thus contributes significantly to the problems in the producing countries.
Biodiversity losses, soil degradation and water pollution are the biggest problems there. In addition to the environmental challenges, there are also social ills within the value chain for bananas, for example, the poor pay of workers on the plantations and the health hazards of people through the pesticides used.
Aggressive price negotiations between food retailers and traders and banana producers keep consumer and producer prices low. This additionally reduces the scope for improving the growing conditions
Around 125 million people work in the coffee sector worldwide. 25 million producers, mostly small-scale families, make their living growing coffee, many of them living in poverty. The main challenges are the extremely low prices for green coffee, rising production costs and the consequences of climate change. The processing, which generates the highest profit, takes place to a large extent in the consuming countries. In Germany, for example, the second largest importer of coffee, a part is re-exported after processing. But a lot of coffee is consumed here as well. The per capita consumption of coffee beans 2016/2017 at 162 liters per year and is therefore higher than the consumption of mineral water (153l) or beer (104l)
5.5 million people work in cocoa cultivation worldwide. Most of them are peasant farmers. Fluctuating, low world market prices, the concentration of power within the value chain and the dependence on cocoa cultivation are major causes for the continuing poverty of cocoa farmers and cocoa farmers and lead to exploitative child labor. In the main producing country, Côte d'Ivoire, almost 90% of cocoa farmers do not earn a living wage. The ongoing deforestation of tropical rainforests for cultivated land, the degradation of soils and the loss of biodiversity are also lasting challenges. The EU, as the largest importer of cocoa beans, and Germany in particular, as the largest exporter and producer of cocoa-containing products, such as chocolate, has a key responsibility in meeting these challenges.