More than 110 family farmers, teachers and agronomy students participated in the Agricultural Business training event of the Amesa Paragominas project, which took place between 8 am and 4 pm last Thursday fair (05/30) at the Campus of the Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA) Paragominas. The initiative is a partnership between Hydro and the Entrepreneurship Center of the Amazon with the support of the City of Paragominas, Sebrae, UFRA, EETEPA and Embrapa. The Amesa project has been developed in Barcarena , in Pará, since November 2018 and has served more than 250 family farmers.

“The Amesa project supports the sustainable inclusion of products from family farmers in the Paragominas market, comprising supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, fruit shops and industrial kitchens. We are in the third stage of this initiative focused on qualifications. The first, which began in January 2019, consisted of a workshop for all stakeholders to assess the dynamics between supply and demand in the region. In April, we concluded a diagnosis with specific questionnaires to map the scenario of the activity of local family farming, which was essential to define the training themes ”, says Julia Moutinho, from the projects area of the Entrepreneurship Center of the Amazon. She also analyzes that, in addition to the strong local grain culture, the project will assist in the certification of the production of flour, fruit pulp and manioc to support different communities, such as Uraim, Condomínio Rural and Cachoeira.

In this first meeting, participants had the opportunity to learn how to price products, define sales strategies and techniques, organize production, strengthen customer relationships and manage costs. On June 4 and 7, respectively, it will be possible to acquire knowledge about agricultural techniques such as green manure, botanical pest control and vegetable cultivation. Complementary topics in agribusiness such as organization in association or cooperative, certification of artisanal production and access to credit, financing and debt renegotiation are also in the June program.

Amesa fits into Hydro's social responsibility strategy, focusing on the principle of collaboration. Rosângela Soares, a farmer and vice-president of the Cachoeira Residents' Association, highlights the search for continuous improvement in agribusiness practices and techniques with Amesa. "We are looking forward to learning how to handle pest control, which is essential for the sustainability of the business in our region, made up of small soy and corn farmers, in addition to having access to the knowledge that promotes competitiveness for the flow of our production."

The next steps of the project will be marked by steps to raise awareness and bring producers and regional companies closer together to formalize a permanent business channel. The senior manager of Hydro's Social Responsibility area, Luana Carvalhosa, explains that between these last two phases, there will still be monitoring of farmers and companies, as well as monitoring of negotiations and sales through the digital platform "Amesa". & Nbsp ;