Experts from IDH and Natcap highlight the importance of inclusion in Maranhão's agenda

For one week, IDH's project supervisor, Aline Silva, and Natcap's director, Mathias Almeida, visited the municipalities of Balsas, Carolina and Riachão, in Maranhão, to talk to local players about opportunities and next steps for the PCI Regional Compact in the Balsas Region, which includes 12 municipalities.

More than 10 actors who support the Compact attended meetings and were able to share their perceptions and demands related to this long-term landscape development strategy, which was launched in November 2020. Learn more here.

According to Aline, this region is marked by distinguished realities that require specific action strategies to support social and economic development. In Balsas, activities connected to agribusiness, especially large-scale soybean production, are booming. Meanwhile, in surrounding municipalities, such as Carolina and Riachão, focus should be on family farming, with support for local production chains, such as cassava or even the extraction and processing of babassu palm.

IDH's project supervisor noted that several of the goals set out in the Compact are already being implemented by partners. "The next step will be organizing the governance structure, which will make it possible to demonstrate these results and attract investment for the implementation of co-funding projects with the private sector that support these agendas," said Aline.

"We have the opportunity to bring these actors together, acting in a consensus to overcome challenges and take advantage of opportunities that promote positive impacts on the production, conservation, and inclusion axes," Mathias pointed out.

The two experts also attended the largest agriculture and livestock event in the region - The Agrobalsas, held by Fapcen. During the round table that approached the Cerrado's connectivity towards cattle-raising consolidation, Mathias presented the Sustainable Production of Calves Program, implemented in Mato Grosso. Aline moderated the roundtable that brought together experts to discuss the diversification of food production in family farming chains developed in the region.