GFI Brasil and the JBS Fund for the Amazon are showcasing at COP27 a research project for producing plant-based food from native Amazon species

The Good Food Institute Brazil presented at the 27^th United Nations Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) its latest project for incentivizing research, InovAmazônia: Ingredients for the Plant-based Food Market. With technical and financial support from the JBS Fund for the Amazon, the aim of the project is to develop food solutions and ingredients for the alternative plant-based protein industry based on native species of the Amazon biome. The presentation took place on Wednesday 16^th during the panel on “Zero-conversion food – Feeding a growing world in ways that enable recovery of biodiverse lands and waters” held in the Food Systems Pavilion. 

Around R$ 2.7 million will be invested to undertake exploratory and applied research that identifies the potential of native species like açaí, babaçu, cocoa, Brazil nuts, cupuaçu, guaraná and tucumã for the plant-based industry. To do so, the program will involve 40 researchers trained in alternative proteins and in strategies for drawing up competitive proposals, as well as six partnerships with local universities. 

“Our COP27 agenda has two central focal points: the transformation of food systems that are responsible for over 30% of greenhouse gas emissions; and the participation of the global south in creating solutions for the climate crisis, bearing in mind the need to finance talented people that are close to the problems that need to be resolved, taking into account the peculiarities of each territory”, said Gustavo Guadagnini, president of The Good Food Institute Brazil and a participant in the Zero-conversion food panel. 

According to him, “the InovAmazonia Project, with investments from the JBS Fund for The Amazon, brings these two aspects together: this is a massive investment in science and technology to transform Brazilian food systems, while at the same time financing partnerships between researchers and communities actually affected by the problems it aims to resolve, creating incentives to keep the forest standing in a sustainable manner while valuing the ancestral knowledge of the producer communities”.

Andrea Azevedo, executive director of the JBS Fund for the Amazon, who also participated on the panel, highlighted that the Fund’s aim is precisely to bring together academic research and the potential of the Amazon to generate income from forest supply chains while conserving the forest. “We need to promote this jump in innovation and look on the Amazon biome as an opportunity, not a problem. Biodiversity conservation has real economic potential. That is why we have to strengthen the relationship between industry and researchers so that the process achieves greater proficiency and becomes a major bioeconomy hub in Brazil ”.

Researchers interested in participating in the initiative should submit their proposals by December 12nd, 2022, and the results will be published on January 23rd, 2023.

Further information can be obtained in the project call notice. Doubts should be forwarded to the e-mail ciencia@gfi.org.

• Fundo pela Amazônia
• Sustentabilidade