Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Communities at core of Sustainable Management project in Brazilian Cerrado

BRASILIA, NOVEMBER 21, 2022-As part of its commitment to gender equality, community engagement, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the World Bank has approved the second phase of a project focused on fostering the adoption of sustainable and resilient natural resource and livelihood management practices among Indigenous peoples, quilombolas (descendants of formerly enslaved people), and traditional communities in the Brazilian Cerrado biome.

The project is financed by the Dedicated Grant Mechanism for Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Communities (DGM) and supported by the Climate Investment Funds-Forest Investment Program. Investment in this new stage will reach US$ 930,000, to be managed by the Centro de Agricultura Alternativa do Norte de Minas (in English, Center for Alternative Agriculture in Northern Minas Gerais).

“Indigenous peoples and traditional communities in the Brazilian Cerrado require support-in the short and medium term-to promote the sustainable management of natural resources and their livelihoods, protect their territories, ensure their food security, and expand their knowledge about climate change,” says World Bank Country Director for Brazil, Johannes Zutt.

In this second phase, the DGM Brasil Management Committee is prioritizing subprojects focused on sustainable livelihoods, designed to ensure the conservation of natural resources, while generating income and increasing food security and well-being.

The subproject selection criteria specifically encouraged the involvement of women in drafting project proposals. DGM Brasil expects that 30 percent of all beneficiaries will be women.

This second phase of the project encourages:

  • Strengthening the work of native Cerrado seed and seedling networks;
  • Creating agroecological vegetable gardens and agroforestry systems;
  • Increasing the participation of beneficiary communities in promoting biodiversity along the production chain;
  • Promoting climate change adaptation through water resources management (springs and streams protection); and
  • Recovering degraded areas and encouraging the use of clean energy sources.

Learn more about the World Bank’s work in Latin America and the Caribbean:

www.worldbank.org/lac

Public Release. More on this here.