Native to the Amazon rainforest, açaí is one of the most popular fruits inside and even outside of Brazil. In the Northern region of the country, the açaí berry consumption in the form of pulp is part of the routine diet of the population, traditionally consumed with fish, manioc flour or tapioca flour. However, its remarkable flavor, energy and nutritional values, has accounted for the fruit’s ​​increasing popularity in restaurants and market shelves worldwide.

The state of Pará is the main producer in Brazil, responsible for 95% of local, national and international commercialization, in an expanding market. According to data from the Ministry of Economy, shared by the International Business Center of the Federation of Industries of Pará (CIN/Fiepa), in the last five years, the number of açaí exports almost tripled in the state, ascending from 2,465.16 tons in 2017, to 6,694.63, in 2021.

Listen to the comment on this news:

However, a study published in the scientific journal Biological Conservation warns about the impact of this high popularity on the environment. The research is authored by biologist Madson Freitas, from Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), with the contribution of other researchers, such as the agronomist of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG), Ima Vieira. The group analyzed 47 forest areas in the Amazon River estuary, in Pará, along the cities of Ananindeua, Belém, Barcarena and Abaetetuba, in addition to three municipalities in Marajó Island – Ponta de Pedras, Muaná and São Sebastião da Boa Vista.

The research, published in 2021, revealed the intensification of management to fulfill açaí high market demands leads to life impoverishment and to wetlands forests depletion. The wetlands forest is a typical Amazonian plant formation, characterized by the movement of flooding and tidal flow. “When the wetland plants disappear, it compromises the functionality of the forest as a whole. In some areas, one may observe an almost absolute predominance of the açaí culture, when the natural scenery would be to have up to 70 different species of trees and palm trees per hectare in these areas”, explained researcher Ima Vieira, in an interview for the Mongabay portal. Among the main consequences of the açaí monoculture, pointed out by the authors of the study, are the decrease in forest productivity, in the number of pollinating insects, in soil fertility and the decline in species diversity in the forest sub woods, that is, in the area below the tallest trees, where the shortest vegetation grows.

José Antônio Leite, a forest engineer and analyst at Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária [Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation] (Embrapa Amazônia Oriental), admits the impact observed by the researchers and emphasizes that Embrapa develops many studies on how this management of açaí can be performed in a more sustainable way. The result of such studies was the development of the technology called “minimum impact management of native açaí groves”, which, since the early 2000s, has provided recommendations on how to maintain an adequate number of açaí clumps and other species within the same area. 

Lower impact, increased production and biodiversity

José Antônio Leite points out that in most cases, the option for monoculture results from lack of access to adequate technical knowledge. “Many start to produce açaí, thinking that the exclusive focus on this type of palm will be better. But the açaí tree depends on other vegetation to extract the nutrients present in the soil layer. When produced in monoculture, nutrients tend to be depleted and production tends to come to an end. It means to say that, in addition to the money spent by the producer felling other trees in order to plant açaí trees, biodiversity is lost and production in the medium and long term ends”, he explains.

“There is more than 1 million hectares of  açaí trees throughout Pará. The production of these areas without proper management is one ton per hectare. However, when proper management is applied, production can exceed five tons per hectare”, Leite emphasizes.

According to the engineer, in addition to promoting species preservation, changing the agricultural scenario by implementing this technology will also benefit the economy and the quality of life of the communities who produce açaí. “The market is still needy. Even with the growth in açaí production, supply is low compared to demand, both in the domestic and foreign markets. By adopting proper management, each piece of land can increase the volume of production much more, generating more income and social well-being for the region and for the thousands of producing families”, he emphasizes.

Project yields knowledge to municipality on Marajó Island

The Marajó Island represents one of the açaí production centers in the Amazon and one of the territories with the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) in Brazil. It is also the place where the dissemination of Embrapa's ‘minimal impact management technology’ gained momentum five years ago with the project “Manejo de Açaizais Nativos do Marajó” [Marajó Native Areas of Açaí Management] – the “Manejaí”.

The Manejaí project supervisor, Augusto Cesar Andrade, summarizes saying that the actions aim to guarantee the application of good practices by extractivists and producers and strengthen the production chain. Therefore, since the project implementation, actions were carried out aiming to access technologies and good production practices, strengthening rural extension (teaching agriculture, livestock and economics), social and productive organization and digital inclusion.

The first city to implement the project was Portel, the second most populous municipality in Marajó. The region exhibits a low HDI and several infrastructure, education and health challenges. “First, we trained 55 multiplier agents, so that they pass on the knowledge about management to the communities of Portel, both in the urban center, and also on the riverine area. Thus, there are now over 600 qualified extractivists and participants involved in the network of managing producers”, says the supervisor. As a result, 2,140 families were directly and indirectly benefited and 107 communities were involved in the process.

International funding helps to maintain initiative in Portel

In addition to technical qualification, Manejaí project, carried out in Portel, has trained 10 socioenvironmental credit agents to support the search for investments. Agents act as intermediate actors, contacting Banks and other financial institutions to map available financing and credit opportunities. Sequentially, they present these possibilities to the producers and, if there is interest, they continue to provide assistance throughout the bureaucratic process. The funds obtained are employed in the implementation of the changes in management, that is, hiring workforce, buying equipment and other necessary expenses to adapt the land.

During the first phase of the project, regarding the actions in Portel from 2017 to 2021, the funds originated from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), through the Bem Diverso Project – the result of a partnership between Embrapa and Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento [United Nations Development Programme] (PNUD).

The experience with the GEF opened doors to strengthen up the partnership with the European Union (EU), which decided to invest in Embrapa's next actions in the Amazon, including the development of the Manejaí project during the period from 2022 to 2025. The investment was of R$5 million Reais approximately and it will be used mainly to foster the maintenance of the project’s agenda, as well as to be distributed among other Embrapa’s initiatives in the region.

Cooperative - Now, there is also the Manejaí Cooperative, responsible to keep up with the actions in the municipality of Portel and to manage the Central Amazônia, a facility created as part of the project to host meetings, classes, lodging and other uses according to the community needs, targeting to increase the competitiveness of the extractive chain.

Goal is to invest in the açaí tracking and expansion to other municipalities

“Now that the knowledge is already shared within the community, our plan is to move forward and focus on structuring the commercialization of the production (from Portel) until 2025. Soon, an application that allows tracking the açaí will be launched. This action is supposed to increase the credibility between the market and the producer”, adds Augusto Cesar, Manejaí project supervisor.

Manejaí Project also aims to help the municipality producers in obtaining certification from the Ministry of Agriculture to formalize the business and guarantee more quality in the açai production in the region. Alongside, after a period of break due to Covid-19 pandemic, the goal is now to restructure and continue the plan to replicate the actions in the municipalities of Breves and Muaná, also in Marajó island.

Following that plan, the project would manage to assist the three largest cities in the archipelago which, at first, could serve as headquarters for neighbor cities. Although the expansion phase dates have not been confirmed yet, the plan is, as soon as possible, to collectively discuss, in each municipality, how the proposal for the social organization of the farmers will occur – including the decision to create a new cooperative, structure or formalize an existing one, or even join the Manejaí Cooperative, based in Portel.

The project has been designed in partnership with a network of public and non-governmental institutions, such as the Empresa de Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural do Estado do Pará [Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company of the State of Pará] (Emater/PA), municipal agriculture departments, community associations, unions, credit entities, universities, amongst others.

Açaí exports from Pará in the last 5 years

Source: ComexStat – March 18th/2022 Elaborated by: CIN/FIEPA - 2022