In the countryside of Amazonas, coffee moves sustainable entrepreneurship

Cassandra Castro – from Cenarium

BRASILIA – Rural producers from Apuí, in the Amazonas countryside, use the forest as an ally and are able to increase coffee production in the city. The success case is the result of a work performed by the Conservation and Sustainable Development Institute of Amazonas – Idesam, a non-governmental, non-profit organization that has been active since 2005 in activities that help promote the sustainable use of natural resources in the Amazon.

With 52 hectares of coffee planted and benefiting directly and indirectly over 60 families, the Café Apuí project is a successful experience of the so-called agroforestry cultivation system. Before the arrival of the project, the reality of production was quite different. The farmers planted coffee in the traditional way, and after a while they gave up cultivating it, because the plantation did not evolve and the price paid for what they could collect was not satisfactory.

The new planting practices revealed that nature could be quite an ally in coffee cultivation, as explained by the director and administrator of the company Amazônia Agroflorestal, Jonatas Machado Ibernon. “We observed that some native species that grow very fast, such as the Imbaúba, shade the coffee plants. This created a microclimate and the coffee turned out to be of excellent quality. Now the producers plant the coffee in combination with trees from the region, and they help both in the development of the coffee and in the process of reforestation and forest regeneration”, explains the entrepreneur.

The reflexes of the new way of cultivation were an increase in productivity per hectare of 66%. According to Jonatas Machado, the producer’s annual income also grew by 300%, because he produces more and receives more. The incentive also comes from the value paid to the farmer, something around 46% to 50% more than what is paid by the commodities market, not to mention that Apuí coffee is an organic and agro-forestry product.

Quality product

The project manager at Idesam, Elen Blanco, evaluates the work done in Apuí as strategic in the change of vision related to rural production. The project managed to change monoculture, widely used in the southern and southeastern states, for the practice of regenerative agriculture, which has the advantage of helping maintain the forest and benefit the plantations.

The researcher also highlights another point regarding what happens in the city. “The city of Apuí is located in the Deforestation Arch and is promoting the regeneration of the ecosystem. We are transforming the agricultural activity into part of the solution for the deforestation problem”.

The coffee that leaves Apuí has organic certification, which increases the product’s added value. Elen Blanco explains that it was also necessary to think about the market issue and ensure the commercialization of the coffee. That is when the spin off Amazônia Agroflorestal was created, a company that takes care of this phase of the coffee production chain.

Café Apuí already reaches consumer poles of organic and sustainable products, such as São Paulo. The city’ production is also sold in large scale to partners such as supermarkets and also to the final consumer via e-commerce.

Learn more here.