With its long summers and high annual rainfall, the southern Brazilian climate is ideal for highly productive agriculture. According to the 2017 Agricultural Census, family farming employed more than 10 million people in September this year, representing 67% of the total number of people employed in agriculture and cattle ranching. Family farming also accounted for 23% of the total value of production of agricultural establishments. In recent years, not only organic food cultivation without chemicals but also agroforestry technology has become widespread in Brazil.
Despite the generally economically better developed south of the country, there are only a few farmers who use this innovative concept of combined forestry and crop cultivation.
With this project, the regional group in Araranguá has therefore set itself the goal of bringing this concept closer to local small farmers. To this end, an agroforestry system (AFS) is to be developed and planted on a pilot farm. The technical project and fact sheet will serve as a template for further projects.
Smallholders will be presented the advantages of AFS in a workshop and the pilot farm will be used as a demonstration area. In addition to the technical and practical basics of AFS, the workshop also includes a part on marketing strategies for the products and the use of social networks.
In order to open up further income and educational opportunities for the regional smallholder group, an existing barn will be converted into a multi-purpose room, which will house a seed bank, tree nursery and space for further workshops and presentations.
The project is being carried out in cooperation with local and German partners:
In Brazil, the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) in Araranguá is a key element and is home to the Brazilian regional group. Another important project partner is the organic farmers’ network “EcoVida”, which provides the link to local smallholders and experts.
On the German side, the project receives technical support from the Rottenburg am Neckar University of Applied Forest Sciences (HFR), which has many years of experience with research projects in forestry and regional management in both countries.
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