By Lucas Guaraldo*
More than 1,200 representatives of family farming, indigenous peoples, residents of traditional communities, researchers and decision-makers took part in the International Forum on Family Farming and Traditional Communities, held between November 12 and 17 during COP30 in Belém. The event, promoted by IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute), SEMAS (Pará State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainability) and SEAF (Pará State Secretariat for Family Farming), brought together 67 panelists, 12 of whom were foreigners, to discuss the needs and contributions of family farming in different parts of the world.
“We always want to occupy the blue zone and the decision-making spaces, but we also want to create a space at the Forum that amplifies the voice of family farming and traditional communities. Here, they took part in all the panels, had their demands heard and were able to hear reports from other countries,” said Lucimar Souza, IPAM’s Director of Territorial Development and one of the organizers of the event.
Currently, around 20 million hectares of the Legal Amazon belong to small landowners who, with adequate technical and financial support, could intensify their production and receive payment for preserving the remaining vegetation. Maintaining the natural areas of these properties also contributes to the protection of natural resources, such as rainfall generation and soil conservation.
“The Forum had fantastic results. There were 14 different topics discussed. We talked about Asia, Africa and Oceania, but above all we talked about the Amazon, Pará, our reality and our solutions for farmers and extractivists,” said Cássio Pereira, Secretary of Family Farming for the State of Pará.
Sustainable practices in the field, such as the implementation of agroforestry systems, the extraction of forest products and production aligned with natural flows, which are recurrent in family farming, were pointed out as solutions for reconciling production and conservation on a large scale. These techniques are also fundamental for climate adaptation in the countryside, creating landscapes that are more resilient to the extreme effects of climate change.
The Forum also had the partnership of Hydro, Fetagri (Federation of Agricultural Workers), Fetraf (National Federation of Family Farm Workers of Brazil), CNS (National Council of Extractivist Populations), Adepará (Pará Agricultural Defense Agency), Emater (Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company) and Malungu.
Exchange area
With the participation of representatives from Latin American countries and all continents, the International Forum panels also allowed farmers from distant regions to exchange experiences. Topics such as land regularization in Pará, for example, served as a bridge for dialogue between quilombolas from Pará and representatives of the Thai government.
“It was incredible to be able to share our stories here with families from Brazil. I’m from the other side of the world, but I saw how agriculture, the climate and the problems faced here are very similar to those in my country. It was great to be able to share success stories so that we can find solutions quickly and together,” commented Supatchaya Techachoochert, a researcher from Thailand’s Mae Fah Luang Foundation Under Royal Patronage.
For the Brazilian farmers, the experience also helped them to appreciate the importance of the services they provide, allowing them to recognize their daily activities as an essential part of protecting the Amazon.
“We got to know various experiences from different parts of the world and learned a lot from the dialogues. You can see the scale of taking part in an event like this, focused on family farming. For me, having this space is very significant,” celebrated Adrielly Tavares, a family farmer who attended the activities.