Soybean Coverage
Soybeans serve as an important source of protein for both humans and animals, thanks to their versatility, affordability, and nutritional benefits. Around three quarters of soybean production is used for animal feed, and a fifth is consumed as edible oils and food products.
The global soybean sector has experienced rapid growth in the past 5 decades. But the sector is both vulnerable to and a driver of critical sustainability challenges, including deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Establishing deforestation-free supply chains is critical to ensuring the sector sustains and nourishes us without harming the natural environment that it relies on.
Voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs), such as the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS), the ProTerra Foundation, and Organic, have been working to address sustainability challenges in the soybean sector for the past 3 decades. They support and promote practices that can help soybean farmers and workers preserve vital ecosystems and build resilience to climate impacts.
Becoming certified can also help soybean farmers negotiate higher prices or premiums with buyers. However, the processing and trading of soybeans are controlled by a few multinational companies that operate at a pinch point in the value chain. They can buy from a wide range of producers and sell to an equally wide range of consumers. These powerful actors hold all the power, whereas farmers bear most of the financial and environmental risks of production—as well as the costs of certification.
While pursuing certification can improve farmers’ environmental performance and productivity, help them save costs on inputs, and provide them with access to finance, more direct financial incentives are needed to motivate more farmers to get on board. This report provides recommendations for how governments, private sector actors, and standard-setting bodies can work together to increase demand for VSS-compliant soybeans, reward farmers for using sustainable practices, and better distribute the costs of production and certification throughout the value chain.
Global Market Report: Soybean prices and sustainability (2024) View the 2020 report
Key Takeaways
USD 155 billion
The global soybean sector has experienced rapid growth in the past 5 decades and is now worth USD 155 billion. It is projected to reach USD 278 billion by 2031.
Less than 3% VSS compliant
Less than 3% of soybeans are produced in compliance with VSSs, but the persistently slow growth in VSS-compliant production appears to be accelerating.
6 million tonnes
At least 5.8 million tonnes of VSS-compliant soybeans were produced in 2019, reaching a farm gate value of greater than USD 1.7 million.
64% higher prices
Organic soybean producers in major exporting countries may have received prices 64% higher than those selling conventional, genetically modified soybeans in 2017.
Highlights
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Less than 3% of global soybean production was VSS compliant in 2021
VSS-compliant soybean production represents a small proportion of total global production, growing at a CAGR of just 2.5% to 6.5% between 2008 and 2019. However, there are signs that this growth may be accelerating, as CAGR jumped to over 11% from 2014 to 2019.
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Progress on sustainable sourcing commitments
The six largest soybean trading and processing companies account for 42% of total global soybean sourcing and purchased 150.6 million tonnes in 2020. Only 4.3% (6.5 million tonnes) of this amount was sustainably sourced.
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VSS-compliant tea production volumes in 2019 and 2021
The most prominent VSSs in the soybean sector in 2019 and 2021 were the Round Table on Sustainable Soy, the ProTerra Foundation, and Organic.
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Higher prices for VSS-compliant soybeans
Soybean producers in major exporting countries who received premiums for complying with a VSS in 2017 may have received prices between 1% higher for credit transactions and 64% higher for organic and non-genetically modified soybeans than those selling conventional genetically modified soybeans.
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Distribution of soybean production in the top 10 producing countries in 2019
Soybeans were produced primarily in Asia until the 1950s, after which production increased 15-fold and moved to the United States, Brazil, and Argentina—which now account for 80% of global soybean production.