Women in the Amazon, Pará State, strive to tackle the deforestation by means of farming. Representatives of the Association of Women producers of Fruit Pulp (Associação das Mulheres Produtoras de Polpa de Frutas – AMPPF), and the Rural Family House (Casa Familiar Rural - CFR), in addition to social organizations and companies that support these initiatives, such as Humanize and Cargill, promote good practices through Florestas de Valor Project, which help strengthening several sustainable agricultural initiatives.
AMPPF and CFR are located in São Félix do Xingu City, in the State of Pará. The city is one of the leaders in fire razes and illegal deforestation in the Amazon region. The initiatives developed by Florestas de Valor, sponsored by a Socio environmental Program by Petrobras and supported by the Canadian Government, are alternatives for a sustainable economic development, which contribute to restrain illegal and predatory activities, to indigenous, traditional, quilombolas, coastal communities, and family farmers, as well as the environment.
Sustainability and economic development
The fact that it is possible to conciliate agricultural production without generating deforestation, fire razes, among other types of environmental destruction, has been known for decades. However, only in recent years this idea is reaching a greater number of people in our society, consumers, companies and the financial market. Since there are so many predatory activities threatening the future of the Amazon Forest, the solutions offering an alternative that is economically feasible, not only to the communities that survive in the region, but also to several actors in the production chain, are becoming increasingly urgent.
Just as in many other areas (even facing the crisis caused by Covid-19), several women are in the frontline acting in this transforming model, allying feminine undertaking, sustainability and entrepreneurship, in initiatives that generate work and income to women and young people. As we give visibility to the stories of women in leadership, it is possible that producers, companies, investors and public administrators start value these initiatives.
