O Extrativismo do açaí (Euterpe oleracea Martius) na Ilha das Cinzas, várzea estuarina do Rio Amazonas, Pará: socioeconomia, manejo e cadeia produtiva

Abstract

Essential for the extractivist mode of several Amazon families, the economic activity of açaí has been changing over the past few decades, increasingly associating itself with national and international markets. However, concomitant with the globalization of the activity, which increased the profit of companies and the income of extractive families, the interventions of riverside dwellers in the environmental landscape of the floodplains have been accentuated, putting their social, economic, environmental and food sustainability in check. Combining the economic desires of families together with maintaining the plant diversity of the productive units in the floodplains, a fundamental characteristic for gains in competitiveness in the global “green market”, is one of the main challenges of the activity today. This study evaluated the socioeconomic and environmental dynamics of the açaí extractive activity by the riverside population of the Ilha das Cinzas Agroextractive Settlement Project, municipality of Gurupá, State of Pará, in the Eastern Amazon. Our general assumption was that the empirical models of management of the açaizeiro practiced by extractive families and the organizational level of the local açaí productive supply chain affect the productivity, consumption and income generation of riverside population of Ilha das Cinzas. The study was developed from: i) the determination of the seasonal production of açaí fruit and its relationship with the socioeconomics of the producing families; ii) the evaluation of the level of food security and the associated causes in extractive families; iii) the analysis of the impacts of the different empirical models of açaizeiro management practiced by extractivists for the production of açaí fruit; and iv) the determination of the actors, factors and characteristics that interfere in the production supply chain of the açaí fruit from the extractivist point of view. The total study period was from June 2015 to February 2020, consisting of five harvests and six off-seasons, with some time cuts for specific issues. The methodology included document analysis, local interviews, application of food security standards and collection of production, income, environmental and forestry data. The results showed that the harvest and off-season periods on Ilha das Cinzas were from June to October and November to May, respectively. Self-consumption did not vary with the sale price in the harvest and off-season, comprising 23% of total production. Notwithstanding, the effects of seasonality were substantial for the variation of the local rasa price and for significant decreases in fruit production and average gross income/family in the off-season. About 65% of the interviewed families had food security. However, moderate to severe insecurity (FI) already occurs in 16% of them. The variables “gender” and “consumption of family agricultural production” explained 87% of the variation in FI. In this sense, families that have women as a provider and that produce and consume food from family farming were 60% and 50% less likely to have food insecurity, respectively. The practices of extractivists on Ilha das Cinzas were based on three types of empirical management models, namely: (i) productivist, (ii) intermediate and (iii) conservationist. The productivist type showed fruit production (kg) on average 109.5% and 281.4% higher than those of the intermediate and conservationist types, respectively, however they presented 52.6% and 35.7% lower floristic richness. Productivity of the açaizeiro was negatively correlated with shading and the size of surrounding trees. The trade-off between production and sustainability of the floodplain ecosystem must be considered when choosing the appropriate management. Public protection policies can provide a guideline for the limits considered acceptable in management practices for the economic and environmental sustainability of açaizais in the Amazon, although there is still a lack of technical standardization. The supply chain of the island's açaí fruit proved to be incomplete and formed by producers, intermediaries and suppliers. Four factors, represented by 75% of the variables used, explained 48% of the total variance of the variables, being named: (i) productive aspects, (ii) technological insertion, (iii) associative management and economic incentives and (iv) commercialization and promotion. Only factors (i) and (iv) were well evaluated by extractivists. Low mechanization, incipient use of technology and low training, combined with the absence of participation by the main community association, were the main obstacles for extractivists to increase production, productivity and phytosanitary safety in açaí. It is concluded that the general hypothesis of this study was confirmed, since the level of social, economic, environmental and food sustainability of the productive activity of the açaí of Ilha das Cinzas was the result of the way that extractive families empirically managed the açaí, the financial and food contributions resulting from the activity and the organizational level of the local açaí fruit production chain, which directly or indirectly interferes in the local development of their communities. Some factors would be essential to overcome the obstacles in the production chain of the açaí fruit from Ilha das Cinzas, such as the promotion of public policies that include actions aimed at continuous and quality technical training and capacity building, strengthening of local associations, economic incentives, technology transfer and interaction among intersectoral policies.