Traditional and quilombola communities in the Baixada Cuiabana region (MT) collect and process the fruit of the baruzeiro tree, a type of edible and highly nutritious almond.
Between July and October, the fruits of the baruzeiro tree – a tree threatened by predatory logging in the Cerrado – fall to the ground by the thousands. An adult tree can produce around 1.500 fruits per year, according to data from Embrapa. And in Baixada Cuiabana, located on the outskirts of the capital of Mato Grosso, quilombola communities and family farmers collect this type of edible and highly nutritious Brazilian almond, to later sell it. All with great care and respect for nature.
Normely de Barros, 44 years old, a baru collector, or cumbaru, as it is known in the region, says that she started collecting the fruit about three years ago, with technical support from the Nossa Senhora de Lurdes Rural Producers Association, of which she is a member.
“Before, we didn’t do anything with baru. Then the president of the Association explained how the work was done, made paçoquinha with the nuts and encouraged the whole community,” said the family farmer, highlighting that she had already collected R$600,00 in a single collection in her backyard.
The story is the same as that told by Miguelina de Oliveira Campos, a resident of the rural community of São Manoel do Pari, in the neighboring municipality of Nossa Senhora do Livramento: “a fruit that we didn’t use and lost, despite being very healthy”.
Simão de Almeida, president of the Rural Workers Union of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, states that “in the past, our parents always said that the cumbaru tree caused wounds,” but that after learning more about it, “today the cumbaru tree is very useful for families and rural workers, and is a source of income.” While the fruit used to be lost in the bush, it is now becoming more valuable.
This shows that stimulating sociobiodiversity chains generates income for communities. It is also an economic opportunity to keep the Association active and productive, with benefits especially for women.
According to the Central Cooperative of Family Agriculture of Baixada Cuiabana, in the Poconé region, 105 km from Cuiabá, women account for almost 70% of the people who collect baru in the area. And even after the harvest, the workers can earn an income, since if stored properly the fruits last up to two years.
Headquartered in the Zé Alves community, the cooperative is managed by the Ponce family. Together with the union, which has been at the forefront of coordinating the baru production chain in the region of the capital of Mato Grosso, they talk to family farmers in the surrounding area and, through this contact, encourage the collection of fruits from their backyards.
“My role is to coordinate the cumbaru harvest with rural workers and to explain how important the cumbaru is, both the fruit and the tree,” explains Simão.
Each kilo collected is sold for R$0,50. Soon after, the baru is distributed among the people who will break it to obtain the almond. The baru is broken using a manual machine that makes it possible to break the hard shell that surrounds the almond. The baru nut breakers receive R$13,00 per kilo of the nut, which will be stored and later sold for R$32,00 to warehouses and stores specializing in sociobiodiversity products.
Agroextractivism and conservation of biomes
The collection and processing of baru in Mato Grosso is an example of agroextractivism, an activity normally carried out by traditional peoples and communities and family farmers who, with their sustainable practices of using natural resources, end up being fundamental in the conservation of Brazilian biomes. These practices come from ancient knowledge that contributes to the maintenance of the culture of these peoples in their territories.
Forestry engineer Terena Castro, technical advisor at the Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN), explains that agroextractivism occurs in conjunction with the observation of nature and respect for the productive and reproductive cycle of trees. “Therefore, the extraction of baru by communities does not compromise the reproduction of the species, enabling both their survival and the continuity of economic activity by the community,” she highlights.
Trade unionist Simão follows the same line and comments that with the appreciation of the baru, the baru trees are being preserved. “They are no longer being cut down and in fact new trees are being planted”. Furthermore, he highlights that the cumbaru tree does not affect plantations in the fields since everything planted beneath it “takes root”. Listen to the explanation in the audio below:
Terena concludes that this process is a two-way street: “nature must remain healthy and balanced so that agroextractive activity can continue to exist”.
Another factor highlighted by the advisor is that the activity of collecting baru generates community engagement, with men, women, children and elders involved in the agroextractivism of the nut. “It helps families stay in the countryside and awakens interest in the activity among young people,” she concludes. Therefore, defending baru collectors is defending the Cerrado.
Baru: nutrition and varied uses
Baru seeds have become popular and popular in the market due to their mild flavor and high nutritional value. Embrapa points out that both the pulp and the seed are rich in calories and minerals and that in many recipes they can be used as a substitute for peanuts, cashew nuts or walnuts.
It can be consumed in a variety of ways: toasted, crushed and mixed into sweets such as chocolates, peanut brittle and brown sugar. For the cosmetics industry, it is also possible to extract oil from the seed.
In the Zé Alves community, where the headquarters of the Nossa Senhora de Lurdes Rural Producers Association is located, the Ponce family, which already has a tradition in the production of rapadura, now produces “rapadurinhas” with crushed baru nuts in the middle, a way of expanding the offer without leaving aside the tradition of the sweet made from sugar cane.
Terena Castro, from ISPN, also points out that the waste generated from breaking the fruit can be used for various purposes, from livestock feed, gardening supplies, crafts and even as charcoal.
Consumption and demand
With the expectation of increased consumption of the processed fruit, communities, researchers and civil society organizations are concerned about the safety of all links in the production chain. The coordinator of the Network of Traditional Communities of the Pantanal and president of the National Council of Traditional Peoples and Communities, Cláudia de Pinho, highlights the need to structure the baru production chain, so that there is respect for nature and workers.
“So far, the activities of collecting and breaking baru have generated positive impacts in the territory, especially for women. However, care must be taken in structuring this chain and with the communities that live with the fruit. Before reaching the consumption process, other stages take place on the Cerrado soil,” she says.
The consumption of sociobiodiversity products can also be boosted by public policies. One of the intended target audiences for the sale of “rapadurinhas” are students from municipal public schools, through sales to the National School Feeding Program. In addition to being a product that children like, its nutritional value increases with the addition of baru.
Strengthen the production chain
The Nossa Senhora de Lurdes Rural Producers Association and the Central Cooperative of Family Agriculture of Baixada Cuiabana are organizations benefiting from the PPP-ECOS Fund through a notice, launched in 2021, for emergency aid in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The two projects include actions to strengthen the baru production chain, from harvesting to marketing. To date, a workshop on good practices for harvesting the fruit and breaking it to obtain the almond, as well as on marketing options, has been held and was attended by around 30 leaders from the region's traditional communities.
The Fund also made it possible to purchase ten machines for manually cutting the fruit and extracting the almonds. The funds have also been used to purchase equipment to complement the community kitchen and process the almonds, such as a roaster, blender, molds for making rapaduras, packaging, labels and a sealing machine. The next step will be to introduce the products to the local and institutional market.
About PPP-ECOS
O PPP-ECOS is an ISPN strategy to promote Ecosocial Productive Landscapes, through four pillars: access to resources, political articulation, community leadership and knowledge management.
The initiative has already supported more than 890 projects in the Cerrado, Caatinga and Amazon.
Learn more about the strategy by clicking here.
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