Palm nuts as an opportunity

Casa de Maria | Brazil, Bahia

With the Casa de Maria cooperative’s help, palm nut gatherers – most of whom are single mothers currently living on social security – want to develop their self-made licuri and babassu nut oil, and other products to market readiness in order to improve their economic and social standing. In addition, the project plans to build a support network consisting of women’s cooperatives.

Brazil’s north-east belongs to the country’s poorest regions, dominated by gender inequality, violence, and the expansion of the agribusiness sector with its monocultures. The women living in the rural regions of the Chapada Diamantina come from Quilombola communities (former slaves) and indigenous populations. They have very little access to education and generate their modest income by gathering licuri and babassu nuts in the forest. They either sell the palm nuts on the market, make oil from them or use them for their craftworks. Casa de Maria, a regional self-aid group, supports the producing groups of nut gatherers by giving them further education in nut processing, in drawing up a business plan based on solidarity economy, as well as in networking between cooperatives. The first phase of the project started with four groups of licuri gatherers; today, twelve cooperatives are already part of the network, including five cooperatives of babassu pickers. Integration into a network and economic empowerment enable the women to consolidate their position in the market and to work together more effectively to defend fair prices. Their influence has grown and they now take part in discussions with the authorities and public administration in order to raise awareness of their work’s importance. The nut gatherers have gained the authorities’ support to protect the palm trees that bring forth the coconut-like fruit. Through a sustainable use of this natural resource, they can present an alternative solution to the ever-increasing exploitation of natural resources, as well as to the expanding agribusiness sector with its monocultures.

During the first project phase (2023–2024), a virtual meeting held with Casa de Maria and women representing the cooperative had already shown how committed the participants are, how enthusiastic they feel about their joint work and how happy they are with the successes achieved and the further potential of the project. The Foundation Board has therefore decided to extend the duration of its cooperation with Casa de Maria until the end of 2026.