Biodiversity and resilience interventions: Analysis of interviews with farmers in Brazil

Kuncz, Adina; Ferez, Ana Paul Cervi; Cézar, Adelaine; Brancalion, Pedro; and Zhang, Wei. 2022. Biodiversity and resilience interventions: Analysis of interviews with farmers in Brazil. Project Note October 2022. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136452.

This note summarizes the results of interviews with 16 farmers in Brazil to identify the motivations and challenges that impact farmers’ adoption of practices that improve biodiversity. Respondents were identified by reaching out to companies, traders, and active NGOs who provided information on interest groups and producers, and thus were not representative. All interviews were conducted through either Google Meet or WhatsApp phone call. The interviews were part of the Enhancing Biodiversity and Resil-ience in Crop Production project, which was commissioned by Bayer and implemented in collaboration with ETH Zurich and IFPRI. The project analyzed information that can contribute to guidance on using agricultural practices to improve biodiversity and resilience of farming systems. It focused on intensive maize, wheat, and soy production systems in France, Germany, Brazil, and the United States.