An Overview Of Our Solution
The Ribeira Valley is home to the largest concentration of rural black communities descended from fugitive slaves called “quilombos” in the state of São Paulo. Since 2008, we have organized the Ribeira Valley Quilombola Seeds and Seedlings Exchange Fair. These activities are spearheaded by the quilombo communities themselves to ensure the maintenance of local agro-biodiversity, as well as to protect and preserve their ancestral lands and traditional ways of life.
In 2015, as part of this program, we launched the “Paiol de Sementes Quilombola” (“The Quilombo Seed Bank”), which has enabled the storage, exchange, and distribution of quilombos’ traditional seeds. The Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) seeks to valorize and disseminate these seeds to ensure the preservation of local ecosystems and to conserve the rich biodiversity of the Ribeira Valley region.
Who is this solution impacting?
Community Type
Rural
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: South America
General Information
Organization type
Nirlaba
Ecosystem (select all that apply)
Forests
Population impacted
1200
Challenge
Size of agricultural area
400 agricultural areas with 0,5 hectares
Production quantity
140 tons per month
People employed
640
Solution
Describe your solution
Stringent environmental legislation has criminalized the quilombos’ traditional agricultural practices. As a result, these communities have searched alternative strategies to preserve and protect their distinct varieties of subsistence crops.
An initial strategy was to safeguard the seeds grown from subsistence garden plots (“roças”) on plots that are located close to the quilombolas’ homes. However, this strategy proved insufficient. Since then, the Annual Quilombola Seeds and Seedlings Exchange Fair has facilitated a channel for dialogue and exchange among the Ribeira Valley’s quilombo communities. Quilombola farmers have shared with one another their experiences, agricultural methods, practices of land tenure, and have brainstormed solutions to the challenges to subsistence farming posed by environmental legislation.
In addition, these the Exchange Fair has strengthened the bonds of friendship and solidarity that exist among quilombola farmers and other local partners.
Over the years, quilombola have proposed other solutions, and in 2015, we launched the Quilombola Seed Bank (“Paiol de Sementes Quilombolas”), which creates physical repositories in which quilombo can store, exchange, and distribute creole seeds.
The close linkage between the Quilombola Seeds and Seedlings Exchange Fair and the Quilombola Seed Bank has made possible the recovery and valorization of lost varieties, thereby contributing to food sovereignty, food security, and climatic resilience.
Implementation
Describe your implementation
The quilombo communities of the Ribeira Valley (“Vale do Ribeira”) are the primary guardians of agro-biodiversity in the State of São Paulo. Unfortunately, agriculture in the state of São Paulo remains oriented toward the production of commodities such as sugar cane, wood, coffee, and orange juice.
Our work is based on participatory methodologies that foster cooperation and exchange between and among the quilombola farmers themselves. To achieve this, we hold meetings with local representatives of the communities during each phase of the survey, while searching for solutions that valorize local and traditional knowledges.
The Quilombola Seeds and Seedlings Exchange Fair created a platform for fomenting the rescue, dissemination, and valorization of the quilombo communities’ traditional seeds. This included many varieties that quilombo communities had once thought forgotten or lost. This has strengthened local agrobiodiversity, security and food sovereignty.
In the case of the Quilombola Seed Bank (“Paiol de Sementes Quilombolas”), we organized various meetings and workshops, while also conducting semi-structured interviews to create a diagnostic of the native creole varieties. This permitted the identification of rare varieties and the classification of the most endangered varieties used by the Quilombola Agricultural System.
In 2015, we identified more than 200 agricultural and medicinal varieties used by quilombo communities. In 2017, the "Ribeira Valley Quilombola Seeds and Seedlings EXchange Fair” will celebrate its tenth anniversary, which is a testament to the dedication and hard work of the quilombo communities, and their ISA partners.
The decisive factor for success, undoubtedly, was the of valorization of these communities’ local knowledge and agrobiodiversity.
External connections
Those who participated in these initiatives include the Quilombola Associations of Poça, Abobral, Pedro Cubas, Pedro Cubas de Cima, Sapatu, André Lopes, Nhunguara, Ivaporunduva, São Pedro, Galvão, Piririca, Pilões, Maria Rosa, Bombas, Cangume and Porto Velho. These groups were sponsored by the following partners: Instituto Socioambiental-ISA, Associação Biodinâmica, Fundação Florestal, Fundação Itesp, EAACONE, and representatives of the municipal governments of Eldorado, Iporanga e Itaóca.
We also count on the sponsorship of Petrobrás as well as support from the Conselho Federal Gestor do Fundo de Defesa dos Direitos Difusos - CFDD.
The initiative has impacted other areas of community social, political and economic life. Strengthening agriculture create new sales channels for seeds and agricultural products, generates income, and valorizes local culture. The political struggle that has developed alongside the Quilombola Seeds and Seedlings Exchange Fair and the Quilombola Seed Bank has strengthened the ethnic identities of these communities by drawing attention to threats to their agricultural system.
Results
What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?
The region of the Vale do Ribeira (“Ribeira Valley”) is home to the largest concentration of quilombo communities in São Paulo state, as well as indigenous communities and other traditional peoples. These populations are largely responsible for the management and preservation of the last surviving remnants of the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil. Indeed, the Ribeira Valley guards 21% of what precious little remains of this biome. The quilombolas (“people who identify as descendants of quilombos, aka, maroons”) have developed a traditional agricultural system based on subsistence farming and the use of fire for shifting cultivation. Their system combines empirical knowledge of the environment and local climate with rich cultural traditions. Scientific research confirms that this system preserves a remarkable diversity of plants with myriad agricultural and medicinal applications. Their system is also responsible for the maintenance and diversification of local fauna and flora.
Describe the context in which you are operating
In 2007, following the government’s suspension of new licenses that allowed for the suppression of vegetation for the purpose of “traditional cultivation," the quilombola agricultural system was suddenly endangered. This situation has directly contributed to malnutrition, reduction in food security, and the genetic erosion of local agro-biodiversity. To redress these concerns, local quilombo associations, together with ISA and other partners, have created a group called “GT da Roça” or “the Working Group on Subsistence Gardens.” “GT da Roça” has fostered a political debate around the issue of subsistence farming licenses. The group also organized a “Quilombola Seed and Seedlings Exchange Fair” with local farmers as a strategy to rescue and preserve endangered seeds and seedlings. Since 2008, GT da Roça has sponsored this annual Quilombola Seeds and Seedlings Exchange Fair, which has helped to both maintain and recover agro-biodiversity in the Ribeira Valley. In addition, since 2015, the GT da Roça has managed the “Paiol de Sementes Quilombolas” (“The Quilombola Seed Bank”), which, in addition to storing traditional seeds, has enabled the exchange and distribution of creole seeds between and among the various quilombo communities in the region.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
The Annual Quilombola Seeds and Seedlings Fair, which will celebrate its tenth anniversary this August, achieved tremendous advances with regard to agro-biodiversity. The number of native species that have been preserved has increased. In addition, more and more quilombo communities have participated in the Fair. The inaugural Fair in 2007 involved approximately 35 producers and registered 95 agricultural varieties. In 2014, the Quilombola Seeds and Seedlings Fair coincided with the Seeds Exchange Fair of the State of the São Paulo, which added more than 400 people.
At the 2016 Fair, more than 130 varieties were registered, managed by 17 quilombola communities, in addition to many other species brought by other participants. Also, in 2014, the Quilombola Seeds Bank was launched, which aims to create physical structures in the communities to rescue and improve traditional forms of storage, exchange and distribution of native seeds among the various communities.
Language(s)
Only the Portuguese, with a strong regional accent.
Water
The Quilombola Agricultural Systems do not depend on irrigation because the maintenance of the ground cover allows for the retention of water in the soil, in addition to preserving the forest. According to the FAO, the traditional agricultural systems have a positive impact with regard to the maintenance of springs and rivers, as well as the stability in the rainfall regime.
Food Security/Nutrition
The valorization of agro-biodiversity is fundamental for ensuring the food and nutritional security of these communities. These communities have a broad food base with more than 200 agricultural products. In addition, they have produced a surplus of more than 104 tons per month. This surplus feeds over 6000 people, which is the number of people served by the federal government’s delivery program, “PAA,” according to the quilombola agricultural cooperative, Cooperquivale, in 2016.
Economic/Sustainable Development
One result of our valorization of agro-biodiversity is the marketing of quilombola products in federal government programs such as “PAA” and “PNAE,” which allow these communities to achieve sustainable development, income generation, quality of life improvements, as well as food and nutritional security. The quilombolas that participate in these programs reported an average income increase of 50% in 2015, according to data collected with all members of the Cooperquivale Cooperative.
Climate
According to the FAO, the preservation of traditional agricultural systems is fundamental for ensuring resilience to the climatic changes, as well as for guarding agrobiodiversity, which promises to create a unique genetic reservoir for all humanity. In the case of the quilombolas, they maintain a tremendous diversity of plants, which include 23 varieties of cassava, 23 varieties of rice, 22 of beans, 13 of corn, more than 65 of sweet potatoes and 12 of banana.
Sustainability
The actions undertaken to protect agrobiodiversity are linked to the traditional Quilombola Agricultural System, these the Exchange Fair, and the Quilombola Seeds Bank, which promote local economic sustainability.
We believe that these are initiatives that depend on financial support, whether they be from the government or private subsidies. This funding allows us to undertake many activities with the support of trained and experienced technicians. Because the processes are participatory, the quilombola will be able to replicate these strategies for their own communities. In addition, these strategies depend on financial resources for vehicles and other expenses for travel, food and lodging that are necessary for many activities.
Return on investment
In order to implement these strategies, we spent, including technical hours, food, lodging, travel and other expenses:
- For the seed fair 16.000 USD per year.
- For the Paiol de Sementes: 17.000 USD were invested. In order to continue this strategy we estimate that we would need an additional 13.000 USD.
The results of these activities are far above what was invested in them. Even though they had all the indicators defined to evaluate the effectiveness of the activities, the social, political and cultural benefits far exceeded what was expected.
Entrant Image
Entrant Banner Image
Replication and Scale
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
In Brazil, there are numerous successful stories related to seeds and seedlings exchange fairs, as well as creole seed banks, which include the "Sementes da Paixão" project, the Movimento de Pequenos Agricultores (MPA), which encourages the production of creole seeds and also helps to market them.
The replication of these activities is based on participatory methodologies, which include workshops, diagnostic reports of managed varieties, a survey of the primary threats to agrobiodiversity, an assessment of the condition of the varieties that guarantee the food sovereignty and food security of a given population, etc. We also seek collaboration in improving production strategies, reproduction, maintenance, and storage of agricultural species.
Our partners include government entities or private technical assistance institutions, universities, research centers, traditional communities, smallholder groups, and end consumers, that are often key partners in the process.