Current Issues and Solutions

Latin America today is plagued by poverty and government assistance is not abundant for the impoverished. Unfortunately, these people seek any means for sustenance, and thus, often turn to extraction or cultivation practices that aren't sustainable or environmentally sound. Understandably so, priorities are for personal survival rather than environmental protection. 

Opt for pre-loved items! Image courtesy of Goodwill Industries

The fundamental issue is often education, too, as superior techniques as well as consequences aren't often known. The reason these processes are driven, though, is the market drive from the Global North. Consumption in North America, Europe, and Asia supports the exports from South America without a focus on sustainable consumption. A recent United Nations report aimed to define "sustainable consumption" and discuss how it can be achieved.

Sustainable consumption: The use of goods and services that respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life, while minimising the use of natural resources, toxic materials and emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle, so as not to jeopardise the needs of future generations.

Consumers in the Global North should resolve to assist in this issue by: 

• Support organizations that have beliefs parallel to your own
• Spread the word! 
• Make your friends and family aware of the situation in South America and its drivers
• Let people around you, as well as local politicians know that it is important to you to support only safe, legal, and sustainable practices of extraction and harvest
• Reducing consumption of goods and services
• Opt for second hand
• Reuse products 
• Share with your friends 
• Consuming responsibly and thoughtfully
• Buy products that are mostly local
• Shop at your local farmer's market or food co-op
• Support local businesses that don't outsource
• Consider the sources and origins of your goods 
• Opt for fair trade options
• Instead of new gold products, opt for recycled or reused items
• Refrain from supporting lumber, food, and minerals from regions that you are unsure of 

Support your local farmer's market. Picture of Tonnemaker Farms Booth courtesy of Alana Hobson.

 Brazil's economy, for example, is fast growing, and they are predicted to become a superpower in the next century. Meanwhile, there are close-by countries with lesser financial success, like Peru and Columbia, which are heavily focused on agriculture. These countries are experiencing land use changes, namely deforestation due to agriculture, that are perpetuating negative  socioeconomic consequences (Aide, et al., 2010). Areas of lower socioeconomic success tend to recover slower after natural disasters and have less resilient economies, all due to detrimental harvesting techniques (Oliveira, et al, 2007). 

The United Nations, though, is pursuing solutions to improve this situation, and is focusing on setting a goal of "sustainable consumption" (UN Report). This involves establishing programs focusing on both production and consumption patterns and change. The UN Report via the Latin American Initiative for Sustainable Development mandated implementation of sustainable consumptive changes via policy change, improvement of the productive sector in both small and medium enterprises, promoting sustainable public procurement though leadership, advertising adaptation to sustainable lifestyles, and promoting sustainable information and education. The varying economic factors become quickly complicated, though the UN Report via the Latin American Initiative for Sustainable Development summarized the goals in the figure below. 

Demonstration of complex economic drivers to achieve sustainable development: UN Report via the Latin American Initiative for Sustainable Development

In South America and the Caribbean, countries aim to negotiate "big picture" solutions by 2015 within the framework of the Open Working Group, which is hosted by the United Nations (NYU Sustainable Development Report). Brazil, which is at the forefront of socioeconomic development in Latin America, aims to lead progress discussions an discussions in overcoming poverty, transforming local economies, and promoting sustainability, with assistance from partners in the Global North (NYU Sustainable Development Report).