Project selected under the Public Call “Amazon at School”

CONTEXTUALIZATION

Promoting school meals based on sustainable and socio-biodiverse products from family farming—including Indigenous Peoples, Quilombolas, and other Traditional Peoples and Communities—in the public education networks of the Legal Amazon aligns with the National School Feeding Program (PNAE), the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm), and the Amazon Fund.

This strategy simultaneously contributes to the conservation and sustainable use of the “living forest,” biodiversity preservation, and deforestation reduction, while strengthening sustainable production chains, increasing income generation, diversifying markets, valuing socio-biodiversity, and promoting social justice.

The increase in quantity, quality, regularity, and diversity of sustainable and socio-biodiverse production, driven by public procurement programs, strengthens the productive capacity, production infrastructure, short marketing circuits, and distribution channels of family farming in these groups. It also ensures students access to nutritious, healthy, and culturally appropriate meals, respecting local eating habits, promoting regular nutrition, reducing food insecurity, and positively impacting learning—even in the face of infrastructure and educational quality deficits—by aligning public network demand with existing territorial productive potential.

Given the potential to support sustainable school feeding in the Legal Amazon region and the convergence of the aforementioned public policies, the Public Call “Amazon in the School – Healthy and Sustainable Food” is part of a partnership between BNDES and the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE), the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming (MDA), the Ministry of Social Development, Family and Fight Against Hunger (MDS), and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) to implement joint actions promoting school meals from sustainable and socio-biodiverse family farming, including Indigenous Peoples, Quilombolas, and other Traditional Peoples and Communities.

Two proposals were selected for the state of Pará and one for each of the other states in the Legal Amazon, totaling ten proposals aimed at promoting integrated actions to strengthen sustainable and socio-biodiverse food production by family farming and Traditional Peoples and Communities, and the acquisition of such foods for school meals in public education networks in the Legal Amazon.

THE PROJECT

The project aims to support the integrated strengthening of sustainable food production by family farming—including that from Indigenous Peoples and other Traditional Peoples and Communities—as well as the acquisition and consumption of such foods for school meals in public education networks in the state of Acre.

Its actions, products, and services are organized into four components outlined in the Public Call:

• Cross-cutting
• Strengthening food production
• Strengthening food acquisition and consumption
• Project management

Expected Results:

• Strengthened governance and social control over PNAE involving state and municipal bodies
• Capacity building and technical support for family farming
• Strengthened productive infrastructure for family farming
• Capacity building and technical support for public education networks
• Strengthened infrastructure of public education networks
• Increased productive capacity of family farmers, Indigenous Peoples, and other Traditional Peoples and Communities
• Strengthened local organizations
• Expanded product commercialization
• Increased acquisition of local and healthy foods from family farming, improving school meal quality
• Educated school network with applied knowledge on demands and procedures for acquiring family farming products
• Strengthened synergistic environment for PNAE implementation
• Developed citizen and food awareness in food security and school forums
• Increased and strengthened participation of women and youth in PNAE

INTERVENTION LOGIC

This project falls under the “Sustainable Production” (1) and science, innovation and economic instruments” (4) components of the logical framework of the Amazon Fund.