Farmers
are working to address erosion due to overgrazing and the effects of
large-scale eucalyptus plantations. In addition, they lack income
generating activities and access to information on sustainable land
management techniques.
Our Project:
Our
Brazil program started in 2008 in São Paulo State. It aims to address
low agricultural production, rural poverty, and environmental
destruction.
Current Status
Approximately 36,000 trees will be transplanted from nurseries to the field at the end of 2008/beginning of 2009.
Environmental Issues
São Paulo State contains some of the last vestiges of the Atlantic
Rainforest - only 7% of the original Atlantic Rainforest remains today.
Much of the destruction of these forests was and is due to sugar cane
production. In addition to cutting down the forests, sugar cane
production leads to hectares and hectares of land being burned every
year. After sugar cane has exhausted the land, cattle ranchers move in,
thus causing significant erosion and even greater land degradation. As
the land is degraded, springs dry up, soil washes away, agricultural
production falls, and plant and animal species disappear.
Social Issues
São Paulo State is one of the richest regions of Brazil. Although this
is the case, the richest 20% of Brazil's population has 64% of Brazil's
riches, while the poorest 20% only has 2% of the country's riches.
While traveling through the region, you will see large farms of
thousands of hectares, but you will also see farmers pushing their
small plots of land to their limits to make a living. The result is
poor health and poor land for the poorest citizens of the region. The
Brazilian government is trying to help by creating laws forcing land
owners to reforest their lands, which in the end, will restore the
land's health and benefit people. However, the government has not
supplied any monetary or informational assistance, thus making it even
more difficult on small land holders.
Rodrigo sets the seed line for a nursery
Community forest garden nursery
Moringa after-school program
Our Response
We have initiated a long-term program to address low agricultural
production, rural poverty, and environmental destruction.
Historically, the greatest impediment to sustainable land management
was a lack of local capacity to solve agricultural and environmental
problems. Therefore, a significant portion of this initiative
will be aimed at developing local capacity in agroforestry techniques
that address issues endemic to Brazil such as overgrazing and the
deforestation of waterways.
Program Update
Spring 2009
Our team in Brazil outplanted all of the trees from our 2008 nurseries
to the field. Farmers now have live fences of moringa, trees that will
flower for bees in the near future, and more forage options for their
animals. Our demonstration plot is starting to take form. There are
three double rows of trees following the contours of the land. These
trees will provide seeds for projects in the future and farmers will be
able to visit the area to learn about agroforestry techniques. The
Portuguese agroforestry manual is being updated to include new
techniques for propagation and to include native species that will be
used in projects in 2009.
Winter 2008
Read about our activities in 2008
here (pdf).
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