São Paulo – Sustainable production and fair trade have transformed the lives of several families in the state of Maranhão. United by organisations like the Association of Settlement Areas of the State of Maranhão (Assema), babassu coconut crackers received guidance and support to develop ecologically correct and profitable harvesting of fruit. The work is hard. It is necessary to collect the coconut, break it and select the seeds. Only then, at small factories, is babassu made into oil, mesocarp flour and soap that is already exported to Europe and the United States.
According to Valdener Miranda, the trade technician at Assema, practically half of the sale is already sent to the foreign market, but there are great chances of increasing the number of clients abroad. "We are seeking new foreign clients and for this reason we always participate in fairs like Sana and Terra Madre, in Italy, and Biofach, in Germany. We have not yet signed any contact with Arab importers but are greatly interested in the region," he said.
"There is currently great global concern regarding the environment and organic products are more and more appreciated. Both oil and mesocarp flower have organic certification by the IBD (Biodynamics Institute)," he pointed out.
Assema works as a great umbrella that covers smaller associations like the Association of Female Rural Workers (Amtr), in Lago dos Rodrigues, which produces 4,000 units of soap each month, the Cooperative of Small Agricultural Producers of Lago do Junco (Coppalj), in the city of Lago do Junco, which produces 18 tonnes of organic babassu oil, made from fruit almonds and used for production of cosmetics and hygiene and cleaning products.
In the same profile, there is also the Cooperative of Small Agricultural Producers of Esperantópolis (Coopaesp), in Esperantópolis, which produces nine tonnes of babassu mesocarp, a kind of starch used as raw material for the cosmetics industry and also as a complement in school meals.
England, Germany and Italy are the main buyers on the foreign market. On the domestic market, the products are bought by small retailers and large cosmetics producers like Natura.
Crop guaranteed by law
The Free Babassu Municipal Law, of 1997, granted coconut producers of Lago do Junco the right to pick the babassu off the ground, no matter whose land it is on. The example has been followed by other cities, as a way to guarantee new life to the population and greater awareness regarding environmental preservation.
Assema
The Assema, established in 1989, sells babassu oil, babassu mesocarp flour, babassu soap, paper recycled using babassu fibre and packaging in weaved babassu fibre (boxes). The association includes 2,500 families from the city of Pedreira, in Maranhão.
Contact
Assema
Telephone: (+55 99) 3642 2061 and (+55 99) 3624 2152
E-mail: assemacomercio@assema.org.br
Site: www.assema.org.br
*Translated by Mark Ament