Visits to Projects in Pará Facilitate Information and Knowledge Sharing

May, 2022 - USAID/Brazil, the Partnership Platform for the Amazon (PPA), and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT visited different projects in the state of Pará. The focus included engaging in dialogue, sharing information, and learning about local needs.

The teams visited the municipalities of Barcarena and Acará, as well as the state capital Belém, improving their knowledge about sustainable development projects implemented by partners and supported by USAID/Brazil.

At Natura Ecopark, they learned about the company’s production process and the Amazon projects. In Barcarena, local representatives of the Sustainable Barcarena Initiative (IBS) hosted an event for community members, and partners commemorating the launch of Sustainable Connections — A Call for Projects, under the Hydropower Sustainability Fund. 

Sustainable Connections aims to support development, based on collaborative sustainable solutions for the Barcarena region. The application period ends on June 3 (read more on the PPA and the initiative websites).

"In 2019, USAID began discussions with the Hydropower Sustainability Fund to develop a partnership aimed at generating sustainable and integrated territorial development for Barcarena and its surrounding region. We are now celebrating the launch of the Sustainable Connections platform, which results from a process of co-creation and dialogue involving several organizations focused on local sustainable development. We expect good results, and the promotion of innovative processes and projects", said Patrícia Benthien, USAID/Brazil project manager. 

For Eduardo Rocha, PPA engagement manager, the call for proposals will enable people and organizations from Barcarena to work together for the sustainable development of the region. "We expect to expand the recognition of local talents, and identify innovative solutions already in place in the region, and technologies that could make a difference in people's life, considering a balance among economic, social, and environmental aspects," said Rocha.

In Barcarena, the team observed the achievements of the Travessia Barcarena project, another project supported by the PPA Solidarity Fund.

Diversity — In the municipality of Acará, the team visited the sites where the Peabiru Institute delivered training courses on meliponiculture – breeding of stingless bees, a technique practiced for a long time by the traditional communities of Latin America, specially Brazil. It benefits local communities and biodiversity conservation. They learned how stingless bees produce honey, and discussed the social, cultural, and economic importance of this activity for the community.

The team met with representatives of the Via Forest, which developed an app to map enterprises, cooperatives, and associations in the Amazon; and 100% Amazon, a women-led business that participated in the SITAWI-Collective Loan Platform Amazon Fundraising Round. It was carried out in partnership with the PPA and SITAWI.

On their final day in Belém, the group visited the new Manioca facilities. Manioca is a local business that participated in the 2019 PPA Acceleration Program. It signed a contract with the Amazon Biodiversity Fund (ABF), a private impact investment fund managed by Mirova Natural Capital. The fund was designed in partnership with USAID/Brasil and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. It will remain in place for 11 years.

The ABF also invests in Horta da Terra, a company that produces unconventional food plants (UFPs) from the Amazon. USAID, PPA, and CIAT representatives visited Horta da Terra's offices in Belém, and their production site in the municipality of Santo Antônio do Tauá (PA), where UFPs are grown organically in a regenerative production system with Amazon species, based on syntropic farming best practices.

"The PPA is very important. They act as a catalyst, and a hub for relationships involving various actors in the ecosystem, which is both complex and challenging. I have a lot of admiration for what they do, and I am very happy with the results," said Bruno Kato, CEO of Horta da Terra.