[travis_brooks]

This idea of soy being the bad guy seems a bit naïve. These days forests are usually first cut down to make charcoal. Thats the initial reason that its economically feasible to cut down a forest, there is no local fuel source cheaper than charcoal. After that its typically a palm oil producer that takes over the now cleared land. In wealthier places like Brazil there is enough investment to buy cattle and plant a feed crop of soy instead.

[isolli]

Would you have a source for that?

[spiderfarmer]

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/charcoal-trade-is-dest...

[isolli]

Thanks. Based on this source, it looks like the main driver of deforestation may be charcoal in Africa and soy in Brazil. There was no need to dismiss soy as one of the contributing factors.