By Nikole Cantoara*
Reconciling production, income generation and environmental conservation is one of the main pillars for strengthening family farming and combating deforestation and climate change.
With this in mind, IPAM (Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia), in partnership with IVISAM (Instituto Vida e Sintropia da Amazônia), held the third workshop on SAFs (Agroforestry Systems) in the Chapadinha micro-region, this time focusing on management and income generation. The event was held at the Rural Family House in the municipality of Buriti, located in the east of the Maranhão Cerrado, in September and trained an audience of 50 people, including young people, family farmers and technicians who provide technical assistance in the territory.
IPAM has been supporting the strengthening of sustainable family production in the Chapadinha micro-region in Maranhão since 2021. In 2024, it supported the implementation of an agroforestry system as a demonstration and educational unit called “SAF in the Cerrado Maranhense”, in partnership with the Buriti Rural Family House.
The cultivation technique through the implementation of SAFs connects environmentally appropriate agricultural activities with economic income for family farmers by including a diversity of agricultural species in production arrangements, especially considering what is already planted in the region, and forest species in the same area.
“The adoption of SAFs contributes to food security throughout the year, through the production of pesticide-free food, favoring sustainable management practices that promote the conservation of soil fertility and the reduction of environmental impacts,” said workshop participant Francisco Wedson da Conceição.
“Working with agroforestry systems, which is a dynamic, complex system that stimulates young people’s minds and bodies, helped us to reinvent ourselves. Bringing in the practice of participatory methodologies that foster these crops shows that it is possible to bring in a technology that is both profitable and ecological,” says Ricardo Nascimento, an IVISAM member.
“This workshop marks the end of a cycle in which we were able to discuss the challenges, lessons learned and progress made in implementing SAFs. We are happy to have contributed to this legacy of reconciling family production and environmental conservation in eastern Maranhão and we are looking for new opportunities to expand this action. Working with the Buriti CRF also contributes to the training of young students and this is another important action for the territory,” says Isabela Gomes Pires, a researcher at IPAM.
The activity is in partnership with GIZ (German-Brazilian Cooperation for Sustainable Development) through the Sustainable Chains Project, the government of Maranhão, with the support of the Rural Family House, the CDR/MA (Maranhão Sustainable Rural Development Committee) and the Federal University of Maranhão Chapadinha campus.
Sustainable Chains Project
The “Governance and Socio-environmental, Legal and Territorial Security in the Eastern Region of Maranhão, Chapadinha Micro-region” project aims to help strengthen the governance structure and include small farmers and traditional populations and communities in the sustainable agriculture and income generation agenda in the Chapadinha micro-region in eastern Maranhão. This project is part of the Sustainable Chains Project, a cooperation between the Maranhão State Government and the German Cooperation for Sustainable Development (GIZ), with support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
*Communications intern