Fabiana Alves, the CEO of Rabobank Brazil, is a seasoned leader in the agribusiness industry. She holds experience in the F&A realm that includes production, processing, agri and livestock management. And holds an MBA by University of California.Having spent the last 17 years with Rabobank, Fabiana has been named in the 100 Powerful Women of Agribusiness by Forbes Brazil, and this year she was appointed as TOP 10 CEOS in Brazil.

In a recent conversation with the Global Woman Leader Magazine, Fabiana talks about Rabobank while articulating the food and agriculture banking sector in Brazil. From her experience in the F&A Banking sector, she stated Food security and equity being critical in the industry, underling sustainability. Explaining about loyal client relations, she also said that emotional connection plays a significant role.

Read out the article to know more!

Which key trends do you see reshaping Brazil’s agribusiness landscape over the next five years? How can organizations adapt to stay ahead of these changes?

Brazil's agribusiness sector is poised for significant transformation over the next few years, driven by the country's protagonism in bioeconomy, new strategy, and several key trends. First, investing in technology has enabled Brazil to boost production and enhance its presence in the global market as an agricultural powerhouse, so we should continue on this path. Secondly, aiming to adopt sustainable practices can integrate sustainable farming to meet regulatory requirements, both locally and globally, as well as market demands.

A third focus should be on research, development, and technical assistance. We need to further develop our innovative agricultural research to ensure new technology is available for all farmers, including smaller and medium-scale ones. Fourth, enhancing supply chain management is crucial, as we need a more integrated and efficient supply chain to add value, meet export demands, and offer transparency to meet global standards.

Expanding market reach is also essential; exploring new markets can diversify and increase revenue streams through sound commercial agreements. The next five years will be key for Brazil to establish new global commercial agreements. Finally, combining Brazil's clean energy potential offers the best balance between food, fuel and feed. No other country is as well-positioned as Brazil to tap into green fuel markets and help tackle the global challenge of balancing food, fueland feed while addressing the F&A and energy transitions.

Furthermore, collaborating with governments, NGOs, external stakeholders, and using the World Bank or FAO can provide additional resources and expertise for the financial system. Promoting sustainability certifications and impact investment funds can help provide the proper capital for socially conscious investors to support projects that deliver both financial returns and positive social and environmental impact.

As food and agri banks work to balance profitability with social responsibility, what complex ethical challenges might emerge? How should leaders address these challenges?

Agri banks are shifting from the traditional Risk-Return approach to one that includes Sustainability. This new strategy balances profitability with social responsibility, especially in food and agriculture banking, and is crucial for Brazil's sustainable development. Banks need to consider the environmental impact of their portfolios—not only to meet growing regulatory standards related to climate risk and emissions, but to ensure they finance projects that avoid soil degradation, efficient water use, and greenhouse gas reduction. This includes promoting sustainability practices like precision agriculture, renewable energy, and regenerative agriculture.

Another key area is traceability. Animal welfare and deforestation can lead intensive farming can lead to public scrutiny and erode trust if standards aren’t maintained. Joining efforts with public policies and data availability, Banks should support high welfare standards and transparent reporting on the value chain. Similarly, clients must assure and report on labor best practices to ensure fair wages, reasonable hours, and safe conditions for types of agricultural workers.

Food security and equity are also critical. Agribusiness should work to ensure affordable food, supporting local systems and community-based initiatives. Brazil plays a central role in global food security and must balance production with equitable access to food. Transparency and traceability are increasingly important, as consumers demand to know the sourcing and methods behind their food production. Robust traceability systems based on high-level technologies and clear labelling can help meet these expectations and regulatory requirements.

To achieve these goals, agribanks should foster innovation, supporting and engaging stakeholders across the value chain, and adopt high ethical standards. Leaders in the banking sector must be prepared to integrate these ethical considerations into credit evaluations and client strategies, ensuring sustainable growth in agribusiness.

If art and creativity were integrated into food and agri banking, how could this impact client relationships and enhance the overall banking experience? Could storytelling play a central role in engaging agribusiness clients and communities?

First of all, we need to tell our own story: why banking should move from risk-return to risk-return-sustainability ? This requires storytelling. Sustainability should be viewed broadly—not only applying required practices of environmental and social, but also how these aspects ensure how our clients' businesses growth in a sustainable and profitable way. It's not only because the global community expects it; by adopting sustainable practices, clients can ensure their businesses thrive. We needed a strong story to engage clients in the mission of growing a better world together, especially in financing agribusiness sector to promote a better society and facilitate transitions.

Integrating art and creativity can significantly enhance client relationships and understanding of this new world and why the whole financial system has a role. Humanizing banking by incorporating local art and cultural elements creates a sense of community and belonging, helping clients feel more connected and valued. This approach also helps them see the impact they have on their own communities. Beyond financing activities, we need to improve communication. Brazil, for example, has an important gap in how it communicates to the world about its agribusiness advantages, sustainable practices, clean energy matrix and top quality agri products. We can help build a trustworthy narrative to better position Brazil in the global market. For this, clients and all relevant stakeholders must be prepared to communicate their actions and business practices effectively and transparently.

Emotional connections generally lead to strong, loyal client relationships. We aim to convey that together with our clients, we can grow a better world. This emotional connection aligns with our bank's role to support client transitions and enhance the country's agribusiness sector, which is crucial to our economy. Storytelling can promote sustainability and innovation by showcasing the best projects in our portfolio, connecting and inspiring farmers, and creating networks for mutual learning, demonstrating how agribusiness can grow while reducing emissions and environmental impactturning our client´s business more sustainable.

Creating compelling narratives can transform how banks communicate and engage clients in their mission, particularly in reducing financed emissions. Not only asa regulatory goal but also a means for the financial system to help the world achieve climate goals set by the UN. It's a collective challenge. Narratives are crucial for building trust, bringing transparency, educating, informing, and fostering a sense of community.

How do you envision food and agri banks contributing to societal challenges like reducing inequality or supporting sustainable agriculture practices, without compromising business goals?

I believe bioeconomy principles are key to addressing social challenges while reducing inequality and supporting sustainable agricultural impacts. Banks can play a pivotal role by supporting the right and impactful projects, promoting the right strategies, and considering financial inclusion, sustainable financing, education and training, technology, and community development programs.

For financial inclusion, banks should tailor products and services that serve the entire agribusiness community, from microloans to large crop insurance andsavings accounts that economically empower these communities. This approach can ensure that all agribusinesses, from family-owned to large-scale operations, thrive.

In sustainable financing, banks should offer loans with sustainable linked indicators that incentivize farmers to adopt environmentally and social friendly practices. This includes tying financial products to sustainability metrics like reducing pesticide use, promoting regenerative agriculture, improving water management, utilizing degraded lands rather than converting new areas and also indicators on gender equity.

Beyond financing and credit, banks play a critical role in to assure the transitions.Client’s Credit assessments should consider sustainability strategies, greenhouse gas emissions, and the social impact embraced by the customer.

As clients increasingly seek personalized financial support, how can food and agribanks balance customized solutions with the streamlined efficiency of standardized processes?

Some strategies can help bridge this gap. While standardizing processes is necessary to ensure sustainability, flexibility is also essential to develop modular financial products that can be customized based on client needs. This allows us to maintain a standard core while offering add-ons tailored to specific client requirements. For instance, sustainability-linked loans consider targets and goals that help clients make their transitions. Data analytics, geodata and AI can analyse transaction data to personalize financial solutions aligned with each client's unique needs.

To ensure the transparency required by regulatory demands and consumers, banks must ensure client compliance. In Brazilian agribusiness, geodata is crucial for delivering traceability in the supply chain. Digital platforms will be key, but combining them with personal contact is essential. This combination supports influencing, creating networks, and promoting education, which cannot be achieved solely through digital platforms. Proper customer relationship management systems allow us to track portfolio profiles, client activities, the impact of our portfolio, and its behavior toward the transition. Managing new information effectively in a customer relationship management system is crucial.

Last but not least, the financial industry is key to engage clients and to direct capital towards expected changes to promote impact. And shying away from itis not the solution. If we want to support the transitions, we must engage with our Agribusiness players and stakeholders.

What legacy do you aspire to leave within food and agri banking? Are there specific projects or initiatives you hope to be remembered for that reflects this vision?

First, I wanted to inspire other women to take leadership positions and not shy away from exploring their potential, preparing to be impactful leaders. As a CEO, I also aspire to use communication to bridge the gap between Brazil's agribusiness achievements to current global perception. This is one of Brazil's biggest challenges today. We are materially much more advanced in sustainable agriculture, clean energy, and other areas than the world realizes. I want to help bridge this gap.

Brazil's latest proposal to guide national development toward a bioeconomy is something I support and see as a way to help bridge that gap. I want to support that strategy, which involves sustainable innovation, empowering communities, advancing technology, ethical leadership, and collaborative systems while directly mitigating agrobusiness impact and foot print. Improvingcommunication and country strategy to promote the bioeconomy byturning these ideas into action is critical. I want to ensure that agribusiness in Brazil continues to drive our economy, thrives, and reaches an even better global standing—where we, and the world, are proud of our sustainable agribusiness and our efforts to reduce poverty and the social gap.

Message for Readers

I hope many other women leaders in Brazil agribusiness can join me in that mission to properly influence our agribusiness system. Indeed our country needs to improve our storytelling and develop a solid integrated plan, not only to communicate but to ensure we address the transitions, including the social transition. Agribusiness is the sector best positioned to help ourcountry to achieve this and our country is key for the global food supply chain. And I hope all readers believe that in spite of this sector´s challenges, Brazil is striving to do the right thing: supplying the world sustainability.