Maranhão

18/12/24

From December 4 to 7, four projects supported by the Vale Foundation were featured at the 2^nd Maranhão Family Farming Fair (Femaf). Held in the capital, São Luís, the event highlights the region’s wealth and potential, connecting rural producers, small entrepreneurs and sustainable innovations in the sector, while also celebrating ancestral knowledge, peoples and traditional communities of the state. 

The Rural Development Center (NDR) of the Arari Knowledge Station participated in the fair with a booth in the technological space, where various social technologies and solutions for family farming based on agroecology were presented. One of these technologies is the “Sisteminha” (“Small system”), developed by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) to promote sustainable production with a focus on food and nutritional security for families. 

For Marcus Finco, Territory manager at the Vale Foundation, the invitation to the NDR to participate in Femaf reaffirms its role and importance in the state of Maranhão. “The Rural Development Center is increasingly consolidating itself as a hub of excellence in sustainable technologies for Maranhão’s family farming. Our next goal is to bring its experience and technologies to family farming in other regions of Brazil”, he states.

For the second consecutive year, the Maranhão Women’s Network (RMM) also participated in the fair. With products from the local socio-biodiversity, that value the traditions of the Coconut Breakers and other traditional communities, the Network’s most sought-after items were the babassu oil and coconut oil, followed by artisanal honey bread, among others. 

Participants in the Food and Nutritional Security project and in the Agir program (Support for Income Generation and Increase) were also able to present and promote their products in an exhibition with several items made from honey and babassu, as well as handmade crafts.

“The fair is a very interesting commercial space because, in addition to the financial return from sales, important connections emerge from it and a true brainstorming of ideas focused on innovations take place. The Agir program has been crucial in providing us with these opportunities and enabling the CalisMel brand to grow every day, consolidating our market position”, says Arlane de Jesus Lima, from the Açailândia Valley Agroindustrial Association, a beneficiary of the Agir program in the municipality of Açailândia. 

About the projects 

The Rural Development Center of Arari carries out actions to promote family farming, with a focus on food and nutritional security. Through field practices and knowledge, the center seeks to contribute to improving family income and providing access to public policies aimed at the rural area. 

The Women of Maranhão Network, an initiative of the Vale Foundation in partnership with Mandú Social Innovation and the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), encourages female leadership and income generation. By supporting 16 productive groups in Maranhão that work with sustainable babassu coconut extraction and other typical products, it promotes economic and social inclusion through entrepreneurship.

Carried out in partnership with the Meio Institute and BNDES, the Food and Nutritional Security project supports the structuring of sustainable rural production arrangements for family farmers in Maranhão and Minas Gerais. 

The Agir program (Support for Income Generation and Increase) focuses on the incubation and acceleration of social businesses through training, technical assistance and mentoring in the areas of financial management, governance, formalization, production and commercialization. In Açailândia, the project supports 5 productive groups.