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Scaling Deforestation- and Conversion-Free (DCF) Soy Across the Cerrado 

The 2025 Annual Report of the Soft Commodities Forum (SCF) outlines the shared commitment to decouple soft commodity production from deforestation and native vegetation conversion. The Soft Commodities specific focus is on Brazil’s Cerrado biome, one of the world’s most biodiverse and climate-critical regions.

Led by ADM, Bunge, Cargill, COFCO International, and Louis Dreyfus Company, the SCF continues to scale up a regenerative and sustainable DCF soy supply chain, while transforming landscapes and strengthening producer-led resilience.

This year’s report highlights the consolidation of Cerrado-wide Deforestation- and Conversion-Free (DCF) monitoring, farmer-centered investment, and collective co-funding mechanisms that are unlocking impact at landscape scale.

1. Transforming Transparency: Full Cerrado Monitoring & Reporting

After expanding the SCF’s Deforestation- and Conversion-Free (DCF) reporting scope to the whole Cerrado biome, we consolidated Cerrado-wide monitoring and disclosure for DCF soy. 

This marks the first sector-wide baseline for transparency and accountability across one of the world’s most important soy-producing regions. 

Sectoral DCF Performance (2024/2025) 

The SCF established a permanent basis for measurable action, supported by an enhanced risk-based methodology and third-party verification, which enabled SCF members to report 93-99% of their Cerrado 2023/24 soy volumes as DCF. 

2. Driving Impact on the Ground: Farmer First Clusters (FFC) 

Monitoring is only meaningful when paired with action. 
The SCF’s Farmer First Clusters (FFC) initiative puts producers at the center of landscape transformation by combining technical assistance, financial incentives, and collaborative solutions in high-priority Cerrado regions. 

FFC Results (2025) 

$ 4.3M USD invested by SCF members in farmer incentives and local sustainable development approaches leading to: 

• 262 farms enrolled with 1.4M ha of farm area and 300k ha of native vegetation area 
• Over 150 ha of degraded land under restoration and 28K ha under integrated systems implementation  
• Over 46k ha of surplus legal reserve leading to 2.7M tons of potential CO2e collectively avoided, with R$2.5M paid to farmers as payment for ecosystem services.  

This progress throughout 2025 is an indication that this model works and now the focus is entirely on scaling up and bringing in more investments to have an even bigger impact.  

3. Scaling Landscape Impact: Results from the Sustainable Landscape Partnership (SLP) 

The Sustainable Landscapes Partnership (SLP), launched in 2024, accelerates solutions across the Cerrado through collaboration among SCF, Consumer Goods Forum’s Forest Positive Coalition, and local technical partners. 

SLP Outcomes (2023–2026) 

US$10M invested through the FFC and FPC with + US$2.4M leveraged from the Land Innovation Fund and other partners, leading to: 

• 720 farms benefitted 
• >800k ha of potential DCF and sustainable production area 
• 400k ha of ecosystems protected 

These results demonstrate that landscape transformation is possible when companies, producers, finance, and NGOs work together. 

The Path Forward 

The SCF represents the advanced and collaborative efforts to align agribusiness action with sectoral and landscape transformation. As land use and food systems become central to the climate agenda, the SCF’s work provides a clear, operational model for how companies can contribute todeforestation-free soy value chains.