Day 23

33 min. Training for women and rainforest protection in Brazil

Collective economy protects Amazon forests Collective economy protects Amazon forests

Babaçu nutcrackers are strengthened by cooperatives

A very special moment is approaching in the small settlement of Bairro Novo in the Brazilian Amazon. The women of MIQCB, the association of Babaçu nutcrackers, are installing an electric oil press in their small hall. This will enable them to significantly increase the production of soap, oil and Babaçu flour. The Babaçu nut collection economy is the families' most important source of survival. The women go into the forest to collect the nuts, usually in small groups. They then carry their baskets filled with nuts and palm fronds together to their production sites, where they crack the nuts and use the oil to make various edible products, but above all care products. The sale ensures the women a small income of their own.

Gruenumdiewelt present their favorite project in the video

need

Training and networking of Babaçu nutcrackers in the Amazon in Brazil

activity

The NGO MIQCB organizes the training of the nutcrackers and helps the women to organize together against land-grabbing practices in the Amazon

Measurable performance

Number of women who have successfully completed training and number of women's cooperatives that have been formed

Result

Within a year, 465 women are expected to have successfully completed the training and will know how to produce and market certain products. Their presence in the rainforest will result in less illegal deforestation

Systemically relevant impact

The living conditions of women have improved. More Babaçu groves in the rainforest are protected and managed sustainably

background

The Movimento Interestadual das Quebradeiras de Coco Babaçu (MIQCB) is a women's movement in the Brazilian Amazon region that campaigns for free access to the Babaçu palms. MIQCB organizes around 300,000 women working in the gathering industry in four federal states. Their goal is to preserve the Babaçu groves as a natural source of livelihood and to counteract the destruction of the forests. Through their work, the women are present in the forests and thus make it more difficult for illegal loggers to clear the land. There is large-scale illegal land theft everywhere in the Amazon. Since the election of President Bolsonaro in 2018, the raids have increased. Babaçu palm groves that have been freely accessible for decades are being declared private property. The palm is part of the natural vegetation of the rainforest, self-seeds and grows everywhere under favorable conditions. The nuts of the Babaçu palm are traditionally collected by women in a community effort and brought to the villages. The oil obtained from the kernels of the nuts is extracted and used in cooking in a similar way to olive oil. It is also refined and sold to the cosmetics industry as a fragrance carrier. Bars of soap are produced in-house. The women use the palm products to ensure their survival. But this is not enough to improve their living situation in the long term. Buying school books for the children, buying necessary medicines or repairing their houses - all of this is only possible if the women regularly earn a small income. This is why they can complete training in the MIQCB cooperatives. They learn how to process the nuts better and sell them in a more diverse way. At the same time, the women organize themselves in their community, work to preserve their Babaçu groves and learn skills to set up a cooperative.

The good deed

With your good deed today, you are helping a Babaçu nutcracker to complete a successful training course. On each day of training, the women receive teaching materials with illustrations, explanations, exercises, and tips. The training lasts 12 days, with workshops, exercises, and lessons. After the training, the women know how to make different products from the nut of the Babaçu palm. They also know how to market and sell the products, such as oil and soap. They are also shown how best to organize themselves in order to improve yields, but also to campaign politically for their rights. As a result, the women contribute their skills to a new cooperative and can thus generate a higher family income. This improves the situation of the whole family; children receive school materials and there is enough food for everyone. The community is strengthened, and the forest is also protected and preserved through sustainable use.