Opening pathways to learning and innovation in the Semi-Arid region of the Brazilian Northeast
There is no use in keeping the knowledge to myself. It must be multiplied and conveyed to others, especially to our community. It is necessary to invest and believe in the potential of young people.” Irapuan Angelo Gurgel Gomes (Moaci Lucena Settlement, Apodi, Rio Grande do Norte)
The Semi-arid region in Northeast Brazil extends over a large territorial range[1].The family farmers living there face many challenges, both in coexistence with the land and in difficulty of accessing markets. To share and scale up innovations and disseminate successful experiences necessary to rural development is at the heart of the partnership established in 2013 between PROCASUR and SEMEAR Program. Jointly backed by the International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the SEMEAR Program was developed in 2011, as a Knowledge Management Program in Northeastern Semi-Arid Region of Brazil[2].
In partnership with SEMEAR Program, Procasur promoted and facilitated Knowledge Management processes within the six projects supported by IFAD, spread across seven states in Northeast: Bahia, Ceará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Piauí and Sergipe.
The objective of the initiative was to promote mechanisms to ensure the circulation of good practices and innovative solutions for rural development and to identify critical factors and lessons learned from concrete experiences accumulated by IFAD projects and other strategic actors in the Northeast of Brazil.
The implemented process was focused on:
- Identifying, disseminating and promoting the re-application of good practices and innovative solutions of coexistence with Semi-arid conditions;
- Strengthening leadership in smallholders family farmers’ and rural producers’ organizations;
- Promoting reflection, dialogue and exchanges on sustainable production and adding value to family farming production;
- Strengthening rural youth leadership.
Throughout the partnership, several actions were developed according to the following thematic axes: Coexistence with Semi-Arid Conditions (the most comprehensive theme); Agroecology; Markets Access; Cooperativism; Non-Agricultural Activities and Cultural Assets; Rural Youth Leadership.
The learning activities developed by Procasur-SEMEAR helped to identify successful experiences as the ones described in the Good Practices Compendium, build a network of Local Champions and promote their expertise through an online platform.
Along the projects, publications and an online platform worked as important tools to connect and spread information.
The network of partners strengthened throughout the project, consists of institutions, local communities and associations, NGOs, grass-roots organizations, family farmers, cooperatives, among others.
In total, more than 60 partners collaborated actively over the projects developed in the region.
Innovative practices and knowledge — important to improve the work and life conditions of “sertanejos” (people from Semi-arid region) spread over eight different states, were rarely shared. Despite the region being known for prolonged periods of drought that punish everyone due to the lack of investment from public sector and latent socioeconomic inequality, Brazilian Semi-arid region is also known for its great cultural diversity and potential.
In this context, the partnership SEMEAR-PROCASUR acted precisely as a catalyst of local knowledge, using Knowledge Management as main tool. The goal of this initiative was to collect, record and disseminate knowledge useful for learning, capable of leveraging the scale of innovations and best practices that could contribute to the improvement in quality of life and in rural development as a whole.
The partnership in numbers
In 3 years of implementation, the following learning activities were carried out by PROCASUR in partnership with SEMEAR Program:
28 Participatory systematization of successful experiences
1 Participatory Systematization of the Meeting of Semi-arid Young People
4 Learning Routes
13 Exchange Field Visits
8 Thematic Workshops
2 Internships Program for Innovative Young Champions
1 Local Knowledge Fair
1 Meeting of Re-articulation of Partnership with Civil Society
Participants
A network of 120 Local Champions and local leaders, sharing their knowledge with 80 participants among which were coordinators and technicians of IFAD Projects. 60 strategic partners were involved in the process.
1000 Rural Families
500 Farmers (smallholders family farmers) and cooperative members
30 Farmers Experimenters
360 Women
105 Lacemakers artisans
300 Young people Youth
22 Young people trained through Internships
Those numbers, however, tend to multiply with the role of Local Champions and local leadership who share their knowledge with associations, Cooperatives and their communities.
Lia Poggio, Semi-Arid region of Brazil KM Programme Coordinator, PROCASUR
[1] In Brazil, 22 million people, about 12% of the countries’ population live in Semi-Arid regions. The Semi-Arid is one of the countries’ poorest regions, faces frequent droughts putting at risk the livelihood of entire communities enduring climate vulnerability
[2] The Program aims to “facilitate access to knowledge, innovation and best practices that can be adopted and reapplied by rural population to improve their living conditions and promote sustainable and equitable development of the region”.
