BRAZIL – Despite Brazil’s constitution and a 1973 law prohibiting the leasing of Indigenous lands for commercial agriculture, weak enforcement and limited economic opportunities for tribal members allow this practice to continue unabated
In the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, the area devoted to soy cultivation on Indigenous reservations has grown by 23% since 2013, reaching nearly 70,000 acres.
The expansion of soy farming on protected lands has caused division and violent conflicts in many communities.
Chiefs and a few members of the tribes are profiting from the illegal leases, while the majority struggle with hunger and poverty.
“The people in charge, the chiefs, are making a lot of money while the rest of the community is dying of hunger,” said Aldronei Rodrigues, federal police regional superintendent in Rio Grande do Sul.
Large farming co-operatives, including Cotrisal and Cotrijal, buy soybeans grown on illegally leased tribal lands.
These co-ops then sell the crops to multinational companies such as ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Louis Dreyfus, and COFCO.
When asked about the origin of their soy purchases, Helvio Debona, a senior Cotrisal executive, said, “We can’t guarantee. Soybeans don’t come with a brand.”
The Indigenous leaders of the Serrinha and Nonoai reservations, two of the most involved in soy cultivation, confirmed that their lands are being leased to non-Indigenous farmers.
Jose Oreste do Nascimento, who has led the Nonoai community for over four decades, said, “We always do this kind of thing — the leasing — against our will because we can’t let Indians go hungry.”
Federal prosecutors have filed several lawsuits against the practice, and court rulings have ordered the seizure of tons of soy grown on Indigenous lands from silos operated by Cotrisal, Cotrijal, and other co-operatives.
However, the illegal leasing continues, fueling division and violence within the communities. At least 30 families who objected to the soy trade in Serrinha have left the reservation since October 2021, with some having their homes looted and ransacked.
The lack of economic opportunities and government support for tribal members to engage in commercial farming on their own lands is a major factor driving the illegal leases.
“The search for better living conditions gave rise to different illicit activities, leasing and cultivation of genetically modified crops (on their lands), notably in the south of the country,” said FUNAI, the Brazilian government agency overseeing Indigenous affairs.
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