Indigenous Economy: Texts Highlight the Importance of Value Chains
April, 2022 - “Consumers often do not know how forest products — Brazil nuts, açaí, and others – reach the market. These publications aim to reveal the paths followed by these chains, highlight their importance, and appreciate who is behind them, especially Indigenous peoples." This is how Forest Trends consultant Pedro Póvoa summarized the approach adopted by the "From Indigenous Lands to Markets" series.
All four books are available online, and provide information on the four value chains with didactic language and attractive visuals. The work is part of Nossa Floresta Nossa Casa project (Our Forest, Our Home), coordinated by the Forest Trends Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative (ICGT-FT), one of the implementers of the Partnership for the Conservation of Amazon Biodiversity (PCAB).
Greendata — Socioeconomic and Environmental Management and Innovation Center provides operational and management assistance to Nossa Floresta Nossa Casa, which is also supported by USAID/Brazil, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and the Partnership Platform for the Amazon (PPA).
The books introduce concepts linked to territorial governance and Indigenous economies, and are organized in two parts. The first one focuses on data, information, and aspects of different value chains and markets, highlighting their characteristics, challenges, and opportunities.
The second addresses particular aspects of the Tupi Mosaic's Indigenous economic initiatives and the ongoing arrangements where the project operates, including eight Indigenous lands (TIs) and 21 Indigenous peoples, which are also part of the Tupi Guaporé territory, in Rondônia and Mato Grosso.
“There was a time when almost nobody produced artisans products anymore, but I always saw it as a way of strengthening the Paiter Suruí culture. These publications will teach other people about us,” said Indigenous leader Maria Leonice Tupari during an online event to launch the books on açaí and cocoa.
Leonice lives in the Sete de Setembro Indigenous Land, in the municipality of Cacoal (RO), and was the state coordinator for the Rondônia Indigenous Warriors Association (AGIR) until April. Founded in 2015, AGIR defends the rights of 56 Indigenous peoples in the state of Roraima through female representation, promoting women's empowerment, and denouncing human rights violations. It was one of the partner organizations for the development of these publications.
For Beto Borges, ICGT-FT director, the books are a milestone. “It is important to understand value chains as an instrument for environmental and territorial strengthening, in addition to promoting paradigm shifts that strengthen the ways of life of traditional peoples, and their economic resilience,” he said.
