In the Amazon, a large part of the rural population relies on natural resources for their livelihood. Most of them belong to indigenous peoples and traditional communities (marrons, extractivists and riverine peoples). They use renewable biological resources to produce most of their food, materials, energy and more. This is called bioeconomy. To protect the forest, it is imperative that the bioeconomy uses resources in a sustainable and inclusive way. However, small producers and their cooperatives still face substantial challenges in commercialising their products, such as low management skills and organisational weaknesses but also lack of access to public and private markets.
Cooperatives and associations from the Amazon have expanded their commercialisation in priority value chains of the bioeconomy.
The project works with partners, political groups and enterprises to create income opportunities through:
Improving public policies and sectoral coordination in regional and sectoral dialogue processes
Promoting access to better and fairer markets, leading to better commercial relations
Supporting individual cooperatives and associations, as well as small and medium companies, focusing on digital management tools and access to finance opportunities.
Implementing trainings on cooperative management and including training content into professional education formats.