By Isabel Teles
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – In the tiny community of Ilha da Jussara, at the northern tip of the Brazilian Amazon (NASDAQ:), growing acai berries – a superfood known for its nutritional benefits – is a major source of income.
Production has grown around 50% in the last decade, driven by a dozen or so women in the village who fought to secure sources of credit.
“At first, the husbands took care of the product, of the production,” said Edna dos Anjos Nascimento Siqueira, known as Bezinha, as she stripped the small dark fruit from acai palm tree branches and placed them in a basket. “Then we, the women, started to move.”
Bezinha, now 60, grew up following her father climbing the acai berry trees of Ilha da Jussara to harvest the tart fruit, used globally in juices, cosmetics and supplements.
She was the first woman to participate in meetings to discuss funding to grow the village business.
According to Emater, a government sustainable development agency, the involvement of women in such small-scale businesses has grown fast in rural Brazil.
In 2021, almost half of the rural credit from a federal program overseen by Emater that supports smallholder farmers benefited…
Read the full article here