A cycle closes and a market opens
Through the DIS – Southern Lowlands program, Aquaculture, Manioc and Hearts-of- Palm production chains are carrying out the stages of production, processing and sales
written by ◦ Cláudio Lovato Filho photos by ◦ Eduardo Moody

The place is bustling with men and small boats. They started work at about 10:00 pm the previous day, and went on through the night. It will only stop at daybreak. Nearly 5 tonnes (metric tons) of tilapia fish raised in pens are being unloaded at the modest maritime terminal of Torrinhas in the Cairu estuary. While sheltering themselves from scattered showers of cold rain, people put the fish in ice-filled barrels and then load boxes of fish into a freezer truck bound for the processing plant in the city of Ilhéus. There is a mixture of exhaustion and joy on their faces. Soon, the fish will reach supermarket shelves in the city of Salvador, ending a cycle that began five months earlier. Many of these people are just here to help out while they wait for their own fish to be ready for harvesting.

The men doing the fish farming in Torrinhas are members of the Mixed Cooperative of Southern Lowlands Shellfish Gatherers, Fishers and Aquafarmers (Coopemar). Their 60- member organization is the core of the Aquafarming Production Chain, part of the Program for the Integrated and Sustainable Regional Development of the Southern Bahia Lowlands (DIS – Southern Lowlands), which includes two more production chains: Manioc (Cassava) and Hearts of Palm.

Like the others, the Aquafarming Production Chain is a tool for breaking the vicious cycle of poverty in the Southern Lowlands of the northeast-Brazilian state of Bahia, a region that is home to 11 municipalities and 270,000 people. Raising tilapia in pens is an alternative to extractive fishing, which can barely provide for a hand-to-mouth existence.

Twenty-two families are directly involved in fish farming. They live in the communities of Torrinhas, Canavieiras, Tapuias and Alves, in the municipality of Cairu. The aim is to generate a minimum monthly income of BRL 600 per family (at present, the minimum monthly wage in Brazil is BRL 300). The 5 tonnes of fish harvested from the estuary on August 3 and 4 will produce 1.5 tonnes of filleted fish that will be sold in the supermarkets of the Wal-Mart group, a social partner of the DIS – Southern Lowlands program.

Bruno Falcão, a Civil Engineer who joined Construtora Norberto Odebrecht seven years ago, took on the challenge of becoming the leader of the Aquafarming Production Chain in early 2005. “We are bringing an entrepreneurial vision to this area. Our tools are education and the focus on results and sustainability.” The program’s aims of producing work opportunities and sources of income, preserving the environment, bolstering family aquafarming and encouraging cooperativism are gradually being achieved.

“Now we are working together,” says Community Technician Fábio Pereira Ribeiro Nepomuceno, 22, a founding member of Coopemar. “We are getting used to the productive process and building up know-how. One of these days I want to start my own business. Today we are thinking about changing everyone’s lives for the better.” Fábio wants to become a Fishing Engineer.

“That’s their future: studying, acquiring knowledge, growing,” says Marine Biologist Roque Fraga, the technical officer responsible for the Aquafarming Production Chain. Roque is a role model in that community. He is so deeply involved in the project that he decided to move to Torrinhas, where he lives a few meters from the small terminal. The results of his teachings can be seen in the attitudes and language of the people who work with him on a daily basis. “There’s less fishing going on in the estuary. There used to be extractivism and nothing else. Today there’s extractivism and farming,” says Coopemar President Luciano Freitas.

Manioc Production Chain

Unlike the Aquafarming and Hearts-of-Palm production chains, which have introduced new products to the region, the Manioc (Cassava) Production Chain is enabling local communities reorganize production of a traditional crop. The Presidente Tancredo Neves Rural Producers’ Cooperative (Coopatan), which is running the Manioc Production Chain, is comprised of 500 people and 33 rural associations, each with an average of 35 members. The program benefits about 1,800 families living in eight municipalities. “In the past, there were unsuccessful attempts to establish cooperatives in this area. Coopatan has brought a new direction focused on making the best use of land and reducing poverty,” says Josias Nunes, the cooperative’s president. “These are new times.”

The Southern Bahia Lowlands

Headed since early 2005 by Jorge Gavino, an engineer who has been with Construtora Norberto Odebrecht for 14 years, the Manioc Production Chain is changing paradigms. “We are working for the families with the aim of increasing their productivity and improving their quality of life,” says Jorge. “First, however, we had to win their trust by presenting hard facts and having the sensitivity to respect their culture.”

Chains of Production

By providing follow-up and information, Coopatan has managed to increase production levels in the region. “In some cases, farmers have increased their productivity from 8 or 9 tonnes per hectare to 25 tonnes per hectare. To start making a profit with manioc, they have to grow over 20 tonnes per hectare. We have tested 119 varieties of manioc with the support of Embrapa (a state-owned agricultural research company). We can’t afford to go wrong when these people have already suffered so much,” argues Marcelo Abrantes, an agricultural engineer. “What is going on here is a change in people’s ways of thinking, which is decisive for overcoming the idea that planting manioc is for poor people.”

Coopatan’s flourmill was up and running by the end of August. Installed in four-hectare area that Coopatan acquired with Odebrecht Foundation funding, the mill can process 60 tonnes of manioc and produce up to 20 tonnes of manioc flour per day. Farmer Genival Meneses de Melo runs the mill as the leader of the 40 people working there. “I’ve been working with manioc since I was a kid, and I love a challenge. This mill will make things better for everybody. It’s only a good thing if it’s good for everyone,” says Genival.

The result of a BRL 650,000 investment, the Coopatan flourmill is equipped with advanced technologies and will remove the middleperson from the scene, because the processing stage is now an integral part of production and sales. Coopatan’s manioc output is sold at supermarkets owned by the Wal-Mart Group and Empresa Baiana de Alimentos – Ebal. The flour is marketed under five brands: Itabaina, Primeira da Bahia, A Boa, Recôncavo and Farofinha da Bahia.

Farming Technician Marivaldo Ferreira da Silva is a Tancredo Neves farmer who is being groomed to lead the Manioc Production Chain. He points out the main advantage of the changing realities his region is experiencing: the possibility of keeping people in the countryside. “Life here is changing.” Marivaldo symbolizes the increased productivity in Tancredo Neves: he has produced a landmark harvest of 42 tonnes per hectare on his land, while the Brazilian average is 18 to 20 tonnes/hectare.

Embrapa’s support has been an important part of the Manioc Production Chain’s achievements. Researchers at its Technology Demo Farm for Manioc Growing are conducting studies for farmers, particularly assessing the productivity of different varieties of the tuber. “This is an open-air laboratory,” says Jorge Gavino. Pedro Mattos and José Raimundo Ferreira Filho, researchers specialized in planting crops, say that the work they are doing has enabled them to collaborate with 32 communities. “We have done studies using rapid propagation techniques and seed banks,” says Pedro. “The results have been astounding,” he adds. José Raimundo observes, “We also give farmers tips on soil use, slope containment and pest prevention.”

Hearts-of-Palm Production Chain

For the Hearts-of-Palm Production Chain, farmers have formed the Cooperative of Southern Lowlands Hearts-of-Palm Producers (Coopalm). Its operations now include 10 of the 11 municipalities in the region, encouraging 105 families to produce hearts of palm. Thirty-five of these families have joined Coopalm. The remainder will be a part of the cooperative by the year’s end. Most Coopalm farmers are located in the municipalities of Camamu and Igrapiúna.

The Seedling Biofactory, which is part of the chain of production, acquires thornless pupunha (peach-palm) seeds for the farmers’ use. The production technology has been imported from Ecuador, the world’s leading producer of cultivated hearts of palm. Compared with other palm trees that produce hearts of palm (acai and jussara) pupunha oxidates less and sprouts more often (ensuring that the business can go on all year round), while delivering a faster return on investment, among other benefits.

“Now we know how much we will be earning,” says Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos, a member of the board of Coopalm and a local farmer from the São Benedito community in Nilo Peçanha. “I can use what I’ve learned through the Hearts-of-Palm Production Chain and apply it to my other crops. It’s all written down in black and white. Now I can make plans.”

Agricultural Engineer Adailton Barbosa, the technician responsible for this production chain, says that farmers are spending more time on planning in order to get the most profitable yields. Not long ago, that would have been unthinkable. “Today they are thinking about profit margins and saving up money,” Adailton exults. “A change of mindsets is taking place, putting an end to individualism and immediatism.”

Coopalm’s work is based on providing technical and business education with a focus on results and continuous income streams. “Local farmers are coming to realize that the group’s results impact their individual results,” observes Social Worker Emile Machado, a specialist in cooperativism and the leader of the Hearts-of-Palm Production Chain. “Entrepreneurial vision, technical knowledge and cooperativist awareness are transforming their realities.”

The two essential tools that Emile and his team need to do their work are persistence, in order to break down people’s resistance to change, and creativity, in order to communicate effectively. “We are trying to contribute to people’s overall development. And we get involved with them in the process. We all feel that we are doing something important – producing jobs and income. We have undertaken a commitment to people.”