Title:	Aligning rural credit with sustainable practices: environmental indicators for agricultural policies.
Authors:	RANGEL, L. E. P. MAZZOLENI, E. M. GUIMARÃES, M. F. BRASIL, B. dos S. A. F. NOGUEIRA, J. M. CARMONA, R.
Affiliation:	LUIS EDUARDO PACIFICI RANGEL; EDUARDO MELLO MAZZOLENI; MARCELO FERNANDES GUIMARÃES; BRUNO DOS SANTOS ALVES FIGUEIREDO BRASIL, AEST; JORGE MADEIRA NOGUEIRA, UNIVERSIDADE DE BRASÍLIA; RICARDO CARMONA, UNIVERSIDADE DE BRASÍLIA.
Date Issued:	2026
Citation:	Frontiers in Sustainaible Food Systems, v. 10, 2026.
Description:	This study examines the interface between rural credit policies and environmental sustainability objectives in Brazil, focusing on the 2023/2024 Harvest Plan and the 2024–2027 Pluriannual Plan (PPA). The analysis reveals that, despite normative advances, the integration of credit incentives with environmental performance indicators remains limited by operational gaps, regional concentration of resources, and deficiencies in monitoring systems. We argue that the use of the ratio between Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions as a sustainability metric is promising but requires methodological refinements and greater transparency. Our proposals include the official recognition of certified sustainable agricultural practices, smart territorial prioritization based on geospatial criteria, and the enhancement of territorialized Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems. To operationalize credit targeting, we developed a Territorial Priority Index based on the normalization and combination of three variables: emissions-adjusted TFP, area of degraded pastureland, and a reduced history of sustainable credit.
NAL Thesaurus:	Agricultural policy Environmental indicators Environmental sustainability
Keywords:	Rural credit
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2026.1757578
Type of Material:	Artigo de periódico
Access:	openAccess
Appears in Collections:	Artigo em periódico indexado / Embrapa Unidades Centrais (AI-SEDE)