Cooperativa Mista Agroextrativitsa do Rio Unini ‐ COOMARU

Pactos da Castanha no Rio Negro

Increasing Production of the Brazil Nut and Creating Opportunities for Its Fair Trade

There is great biodiversity in the Rio Negro region, a place in the Brazilian Amazon where conservation efforts are high and deforestation activities are low. While there is great potential for non-timber commodity products such as nuts, the farmers and the community do not make as much profits as they should due to the involvement of middlemen in the process. Furthermore, many of these farming families are isolated as they live in remote, riverside communities without access to adequate media, health, and education.

COOMARU is a community organization that works to boost the production and sale of goods in culturally respectful, environmentally and economically-sustainable ways. The Cooperative has successfully increased production and raised the trading price of raw Brazil Nuts for its members. This project aims to create the “Brazil Nut Pact” to promote more equitable trade terms for Brazil nut commercialization.

With support from BrazilFoundation, COOMARU plans to:

• Establish more equitable and transparent trade terms of raw Brazil nuts;
• Create the “Brazil Nut Pact” to extend equitable trade practices to other basins of the Rio Negro;
• Promote more fair and profitable marketing agreements between nut farmers, industry organizations, processors, and processing plants.

Impact

200 indigenous and riverside nut farmers impacted
More equitable trade agreements
Leaders empowered with better negotiating strategies
Job and income generation, and better quality of life for members

“The central location of the Unini river in the Médio Rio Negro offers opportunities for commercial synergies with communities all along the river basin.” – COOMARU Team