The training provided by Formar e-COS (Continuing Education Program in Marketing Socio-biodiversity Products in Institutional Markets) has encouraged community leaders from Cerrado and Caatinga territories to use communication tools to expand the marketing of socio-biodiversity products, mobilize young people, and strengthen organizations' access to public policies.
Divided into three modules carried out between 2025 and 2026, Formar e-COS is an initiative of the Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN), executed by the International Institute of Education of Brazil (IEB), in partnership with Coletivo 105 and Central do Cerrado, within the scope of the Ecos Fund (UNDP/GEF).
The training connected leaders from different regions in a network for exchanging experiences among community organizations, allowing groups to share challenges, communication and marketing strategies, as well as forms of political action in their territories. In the third and final module, held in Olinda (PE) in March of this year, participants reflected mainly on the challenges of strengthening the presence of organizations in networks and territories.
In addition to discussions on public policy and marketing, the training encouraged the practical production of community communication content. During the final module, participants presented materials developed throughout the course, such as digital campaigns, audiovisual recordings, and outreach strategies focused on the territories.
Joselito de Souza Barbosa, representative of the Association of Small Producers of Oranges and Sauce in the Rio Corrente region of Bahia, believes that the Formar e-COS program helped participating organizations understand the strategic importance of communication.
"Often we carry out many projects and activities in the associations, but it all remains hidden and few people know about it," he says.
Joselito's organization works with agroecological and extractive products, such as pequi, buriti, Brazil nuts, and cashew nuts, which are sold at fairs and through institutional programs.
In total, representatives from 25 community organizations from seven Brazilian states participated. During the training, 21 communication products were developed and 20 communication actions were implemented in the territories.
The relationship between communication and territorial strengthening is highlighted by Lara Thifanny Alves Ferreira, a member of the Regional Association of Rural Women Workers of Bico do Papagaio (ASMUBIP) in Tocantins. According to her, the production of content about babassu and the work of the coconut breakers in the organization helped to broaden cultural appreciation and the reach of the community's products.
"It was through communication that we discovered how much of a tool it is also in the fight. The fight for the preservation of the babassu palm, against the breaking of the babassu coconut, but through our networks, through our content," she recounts.
She explains that producing content showing the preparation of food and the extraction processes of babassu has also brought other people closer to the reality of extractive communities. "Other people are able to learn about this product and value it," she says.
Staying in the territories and commercialization
Concern about keeping young people in these territories was also one of the topics discussed among the training participants. Maria Paula Pereira, coordinator and communicator of the Women Guardians of Bees and the Caatinga Group of Piauí, reports that the Formar e-COS program helped mobilize young people in her territory in community activities and discussions about public policies. According to her, activities related to communication and beekeeping have sparked the interest of the youth in her region in community organizations and income-generating opportunities.
“Young people don’t want to participate in these things, but through Formar e-COS, I managed to raise awareness among some young people in my area. We want to bring them closer to the beekeeping sector, which is very important to us,” he explains.
In Itabira, in the Alto Pajeú hinterland of Pernambuco, farmer Jocélia Bezerra da Silva says that the communication strategies worked on during the training have already begun to generate results for the Association of Small Rural Women Producers of Cachoeira Grande, which she presides over.
“We started showcasing our products and orders began to come in. Small demands, but they are already a result of our training,” she reports.
The association works with vegetables, fruit pulps, handicrafts, cakes, and homemade sweets produced by the community's female farmers. For Jocélia, the training also strengthened the exchange of knowledge within the association itself. "What I learn here I take back to my association. So, the training isn't just for me," she says.
Communication and political advocacy
In addition to marketing and community communication strategies, the training addressed organizations' access to public policies and the challenges faced by groups in participating in institutional programs.
Kayki Ivan de Sousa Pereira, a member of the Rural Producers Association of Barra do Rio, in Milton Brandão (PI), emphasizes political advocacy as one of the ways to face the difficulties experienced by community organizations.
"In theory we have access, but in practice there are many obstacles. So we must pursue these rights through political advocacy," he says.
According to him, many associations still face obstacles in accessing programs such as the National School Feeding Program (PNAE) and other public initiatives aimed at institutional markets for family farming.
Kayki also highlights communication as a fundamental tool in this process. "If we remain silent, nothing will change. We need to communicate what we want and also what isn't working," he says.
Networks that extend beyond training.
In addition to the technical content, participants highlight that one of the main results of Formar e-COS was the building of networks between organizations from different territories of the Cerrado and Caatinga biomes.
César Pinheiro de Oliveira, coordinator of the Processing Unit of the Association of Beekeepers of the Jequitinhonha Valley, in Minas Gerais, states that the exchange of experiences among the participants broadened the leaders' perspective on the common challenges faced by the communities.
More than just technical training, the Formar e-COS program consolidated a network among community organizations from different territories in the Cerrado and Caatinga biomes. The established connections continue to strengthen the appreciation of socio-biodiversity products and the defense of community rights. The experiences developed throughout the training also reinforce communication as a strategic tool to expand the autonomy of organizations and strengthen territorial identities.