About 80 groups and 8,000 families can provide food at the event that takes place in November in Belém
In the state of at least 80 organized groups, including associations, cooperatives and productive networks, and about 8,000 families of family farming are able to provide food for in November, in . Mapping, made by the Regeneration and Borders of Development Institutes, sought to show that in the region there are suppliers to meet the demands of the notice published in August by the organization of the Ibero-American States (OEI) for the selection of conference food operators.
The announcement establishes, for the first time, that a climate conference will have at least 30% of the ingredients from participants from family farming, agroecology and the production of traditional peoples and communities. The survey made by the institutes shows that this purchase of inputs for COP-30 could inject R $ 3.3 million into the local economy, equivalent to almost 80% of the annual budget of the National School Feeding Program (PNAE) for the municipality of Belém.
“Every time we talk about increasing the supply of agroecological foods or family farming, the question that always appears is: ‘But where are these producers? Is there enough production?’” Says the co -founder of the Regenera Institute, Maurício Alcântara. Mapping answers these questions, showing that yes, there are enough producers. Alcântara explains that for a producer being considered fit, they were taken into account in the survey criteria such as: to be with the National Register of Family Farming (CAF) regularized and being able to issue invoices and follow the sanitary regulations for each food provided.
“There is much more production than beyond these 8,000 families, but this was the first mapping we have done to show that there are people producing a lot. There is a great diversity of products, a very large diversity of origins, from different places in the state of Pará, which can be supplied to this event. It doesn’t mean that they can be suppliers, but it’s just to show a starting point,” says Alcantara.
Family agriculture
Throughout the country, family farming properties total 3.9 million, representing 77% of all agricultural establishments. In an occupied area, there are 23% of the total, equivalent to 80.8 million hectares. These properties account for 23% of the gross value of agricultural production in the country and 67% of occupations in the field. There are 10.1 million workers in the activity. Of these, 46.6% are in the Northeast. Then appear the Southeast (16.5%), South (16%), North (15.4%) and Midwest (5.5%). The data are from the Statistical Yearbook of Family Farming.
For Alcântara, the inclusion of family farming, agroecology and the production of traditional peoples and communities in the food notice that will be served in the official spaces of COP-30 is a victory. “When we speak specifically of the climate aspect, they are these and these producers who are producing proper and biome -related foods. It is the one who is producing, for example, in regenerative models and agroecological models that combine forest preservation with food production. These are people who are preserving biomes, for example, when they refuse to produce only what the market is demanding, but produce a much higher offer, a much higher supply, a much higher offer Greater food, ”he says.
For him, the presence of this production in discussion spaces about the future of the planet is fundamental and is also one of Brazil’s legacies for future COPs. “It is essential that they are not only inside, but we also show that it is possible to hold an event of this size recognizing the importance of these producers, also bringing these producers as protagonists, not only of the event itself, but also as an example for a legacy. We can show that all major events can follow this movement of prioritizing this local production,” he says.
Amazonian production
One of the organizations that are part of the mapping is the group for agroecological consumption (Gruca). Urban farmer Noel Gonzaga, from Marituba, in the Belém Metropolitan Region, is one of the group’s founders, created to connect small producers to consumers. In addition to being suppliers, the 25 producing families also offer experiences so that consumers can visit and know a little about the places and people who produce food. Gonzaga production is diverse, includes cassava, pumpkin, beans, okra, corn, acai, and a special food: Ariá. The farmer defines Ariá as the Amazon potato and explains that it is at risk of extinction for lack of consumption. He says that every year Plants Arira and makes a point of quoting the plant whenever he speaks of his own production.
“It is a food that was consumed the in the old days, was very present in the tables of the people here in the region. But because of the arrival of wheat, it was losing space. Nowadays, it is not me, other farmers are bringing back this Amazon potato,” he says. Gonzaga production goes to its own dish and to feed the family. The surplus it markets by Gruca and also to the Iacitata food culture point, which brings together the production of a network of agroecological producers and masters and masters of food culture. Iacitata has been selected as one of the restaurants that will work in the official spaces of COP30.
“We are family farming here agroecological. I do not use things that will hurt me, that will affect my health and also the health of those who will consume. As the focus here, the principle is also self -consumption, I will be careful because it is a food that I will eat. I will not eat, my son will eat for sustainable practices.”
One of the products he should provide to COP30 through Iacitata is Acai. “Acai is our welcome. It is part of our culture,” he says. The food is among those who were prohibited in the event notice, which claimed risk of contamination. After controversy, the announcement was reviewed, and the ban was suspended. “Even COP was lucky. They will take exactly the acai crop, we are at the height of the crop now. In November it will be there a little more to the end, but there will be a lot of acai, for sure,” says the producer.
*With information from Agência Brasil
