Women lead
Women and the caatinga
Women lead
Women and the caatinga
More than flavor, stories:
Meet the cooperative that redefines the relationship between women and the Caatinga
By: Raissa Testahy
Taking the Caatinga to all regions of Brazil — and to some countries around the world — we found Coopercuc, located in the backlands of Bahia. But to tell the story of this cooperative we need to go back a few years.
Working with or(ation)
In the 1980s, social movements originating from the CEBs (Base Ecclesial Communities) played an essential role in the fight for the transformation of society. In the Sertão region of Bahia, it was no different.
In the municipalities of Canudos, Uauá and Curaçá, three Canadian Catholic nuns, Monique Fortier, Martha D'aoust and Jaqueline Aubly, began to diagnose the region's problems and identified three main needs: water, earth developing and income generation.
Until then, the federal government had been working to combat drought in the Caatinga, and for these nuns, it was necessary to coexist with the semi-arid region, not fight it. Thus, they, together with the population, identified the main potentials of the area and implemented social technologies in the region.
One of them was the capture of rain for storage. water, with the construction of underground cisterns. In addition, there was an incentive for producers to actively participate in discussions for the construction of land regularization laws. Earth. They also implemented techniques to improve animal husbandry — the main source of income at the time it was sheep and goat farming (raising sheep and goats for the production of meat, milk, leather and wool).
"To the The nuns said they didn’t just want to work with prayer. They also wanted to work with action. Together with these social movements, the producers became an organized and strengthened group and all the problems experienced in the community were alleviated with the dissemination of knowledge,” says one of the founding partners of Coopercuc, Jussara Dantas.
From left to right: nuns Monique Fortier, Grâce Leblanc, Marta D' Aoust and Jaqueline Aubry, in Uauá, in 1987 — Photo: Personal archive/Jussara Dantas
In 1997, before leaving for another mission, the nuns organized the arrival of the Regional Institute of Appropriate Small-Scale Agriculture (Irpaa) in the region, an NGO that works with management techniques appropriate to the vegetation and climate of the semi-arid region.
“It is possible to live here”
It is dry in the Caatinga, but it is also green. Many native species have adapted to the water shortage, and one of them is the umbu tree. The umbu tree is defined by the writer Euclides da Cunha as the “sacred tree of the backlands”. For Dailson Andrade, commercial coordinator at Coopercuc, the umbu represents all the backlands people.
The relationship between umbu and Coopercuc began in 1986, when twenty women got together to prepare products from the fruit by hand. Later, the Unidos do Sertão group was created, which brought together around 30 communities and involved more than 100 people. The group's production was sold at municipal fairs, and the municipality of Uauá/BA received the first stall selling the products. From this stall onwards, they were invited to fairs, exhibitions and events.
The work of these families received financial support in 1999, with the approval of the Semi-Arid Coexistence Program (PROCUC). The resource made it possible to increase the number of people and communities involved in the processing and marketing work.
Dona Ana Lice. Photo by William França
Domingas Cardoso. Photo by William França
Now let’s jump to 2004, when Coopercuc was finally founded. Since its formation, women have been actively involved in the cooperative: of the 44 members, 26 were women. Today, they account for more than 70% of the cooperative’s members.
The role of women in rural areas of the Northeast was limited to cooking, caring for children and fetching water. The work of the cooperative helped to change this reality, promoting greater political participation and ensuring better nutrition for the family.
“They are the ones who think. They are the ones who take the initiative. They are the ones who are brave. They are the ones who really embraced the whole process and said, “This is the way we are going to go.” Without them, Coopercuc would not exist.”, Jussara comments emotionally.
Female belonging and protagonism are passed down from generation to generation. According to Jussara, to this day, the first member of the cooperative, Mrs. Judite, who is almost 90 years old, continues to actively participate in meetings and assemblies and is very proud to belong.
From Uauá to the world
After its founding, the cooperative grew with the impetus of the public market, being contemplated by policies of the Bahia state government and at the federal level, such as the Food Acquisition Program (PAA), which buys food from family farming to be distributed among people in situations of food insecurity, and to public schools.
The program, in addition to strengthening family farming food production, boosted the expansion of the cooperative's international market. Producers began to exhibit their products at fairs, one of which was the National Family Farming Fair in Brasília. It was there that Slow Food – a movement created by Italy in opposition to fast food – discovered the wonders and power of the products of the backlands and decided to start a project to promote the communities in the region.
As an initial incentive from Slow Food, the producers received funding of 13 thousand euros invested in the construction of 13 small processing units (small structures built for families to work), located in 13 rural communities in the three municipalities.
In 2005, thanks to the visibility provided by Slow Food, Coopercuc began exporting and selling its sweets to France, Italy and Austria.We were living through very difficult times and getting our products to the French table was a moment of great enchantment for us. We didn’t even have a road, we brought the container from Salvador, more than 420 km to fill it with goods and took it back to Salvador.”, says Jussara.
Thus, the cooperative began to gain space in the national and international market, “and that is the story we already know”, says Jussara. Today, Coopercuc works with jams, juices and pulps, sweets and preserves, beers, cachaças, liqueurs and many other products.
“It’s like a light in our lives”
Maria da Glória da Silva, 57, was one of those women who saw the cooperative come to life up close. Daughter of farmers and resident of the traditional community of Fundo de Pasto de Caladinho, in Curaçá, status of the cooperative member's profile in the messaging application is “I love my job, it’s my life”.
When asked about the time she started at Coopercuc, Maria da Glória doesn't even remember. “I started taking a farming course sent by the nun back in the 90s. Since then I have been involved in all the activities. I started making umbu jam to sell at the fair. The organizational moments were great, we would get together, it was encouraging to be part of that group. Today, thank God, we have this cooperative that helps small producers a lot, in every way,” highlights.
Maria da Glória currently works raising goats for milk production. “I like working with goats. When I was a child, I was the one who took care of them. Because my parents would go to the farm to work. We would catch them, let them go, and feed them. We developed this love. I feel really good about them, I love them a lot.”
Coopercuc works with women who produce Dairy Goats to develop extremely important work in terms of self-care, social, technical and veterinary support, to continually improve this system — which is already consolidated.
Pablo Garcia, analyst on Sitawi's Impact Investment team, explains that small producers, alone, would be selling their products to middlemen. “If it weren’t for Coopercuc, they would be selling their products in their natural state, earning much less. By processing their products, they sell them with more added value. This allows them to bring more resources to their region,” highlights.
What are middlemen?
The middleman is the person who collects the produce from the small farmer and takes it to the end consumer in the cities. The problem is that, without any other alternative to sell the harvest, many rural producers give up their harvest to abusive conditions and low prices imposed by the middlemen.
“Coopercuc does a little bit of everything. There are producers who work with milk, others who work with vegetable gardens. Others who work with fruit. We come together and produce what we identify with the most. Coopercuc has improved everything. I have no words. It’s like a light in our lives.”, Maria da Glória.
Expanding horizons
One of the challenges highlighted by Jussara is the issue of working capital — a financial reserve that aims to guarantee the purchase of inputs, materials, payment of bills, etc. “We need resources to start all the work. We have suppliers spread all over Brazil and we need this working capital to be able to get the packaging, glass and cardboard here in Uauá.”, he emphasizes.
This is how Sitawi's story intersected with Coopercuc's. The cooperative was part of the 8th Round of Investments on Sitawi's Crowdfunding Platform in 2020. The organization raised a little over R$1.4T150 thousand and the resources made up the business's working capital, which allowed for further development in the industry's production structure.
“Coopercuc has a huge impact on the region and is a very robust cooperative. Cooperativism greatly strengthens family farming; they would not be able to produce these products on their own,” comments Pablo.
Forms of production (video: Barong)
AgroCaatinga
The Caatinga, the only biome exclusively Brazilian, has been treated throughout history as a problem to be solved. In the past, the CUC region — Canudos, Uauá and Curaçá — was penalized by overgrazing of animals and deforestation. As a result, the semi-arid climate became increasingly arid due to the increase in ambient temperature, leading to increasing water shortages.
“We suffered a lot [emotional tears], I have no words to say. I saw many families go hungry when I was a child. All I want for Coopercuc is everything I want for my children. A mother only wants the best for her children and that is what I want for Coopercuc.”, reports Maria da Gloria.
Since its foundation, Coopercuc has worked for the development of communities and families, in addition to raising awareness and preserving the environment and the Caatinga in general.
One of the projects created by the organization for cooperative families is AgroCaatinga, which consists of implementing agroforestry systems on the cooperative members’ properties. The project enables the restoration of soil and vegetation and, as a result, an increase in income, since these areas produce some of the fruits that are processed in Coopercuc’s agroindustry. In addition, it guarantees viable production and income generation within rural communities for all genders, emphasizing the leading role of youth and women.
“Coopercuc is not just sweet”
The cooperative invests in innovation and, according to Jussara, “they are bold and always looking for new products.” They range from beauty products to craft beers.
Since 2012, L'Occitane (a French cosmetics brand) has been developing a sustainable supply chain to meet its production demands. The collaboration allows mandacaru inputs to be transformed into a variety of products that make up a line of hand creams. In addition to the hair care line — Cabeleira Cacheada — with the seed of the Caatinga passion fruit, all aligned with the AgroCaatinga project.
They recently began to partner with Ambev to produce and expand their umbu craft beer. But beyond production and market expansion, Coopercuc is responsible for empowering women and young people.
“Coopercuc is not just about sweets. It is about working with young people and making them take ownership of what is theirs. We promote internships for rural youth to attract them to Coopercuc’s activities. They are the future.””.
Furthermore, Jussara comments that it is necessary to prepare more women for leadership and management of the organization. Even with a staff of more than 70% women, the cooperative went four terms without a female leader. “They didn’t feel prepared to command. They need to feel like they own it all. Because they are.”, comments the director.
In the fifth term, we managed to elect a woman who led for two years. We need to think about legacy and the management of the future that belongs to all of us.
Women and the semi-arid region
The trajectory of one of the founding members of Coopercuc was also transformed by the mothers. Jussara Dantas has a degree in Geography, specializing in environmental education, and a diploma in sustainable management from the University of Luneburg, in Germany.
Jussara was influenced by her mother, Dona Joaninha, to begin her journey in social movements, through the Base Ecclesial Communities (CEBs), the Rural Youth Ministry and her community association (Community and Agropastoral Development Association of Small Rural Producers of Fazenda Caititús), of which she is still a member.
The daughter of a farmer and mother of two boys, Jussara emphasizes the importance of education and knowledge for the transformation of the semi-arid region. When she was young, she had two options: to leave for the big city or to stay in the countryside. The decision to stay made all the difference. She is a living example for many young people who can live and stay in the backlands, making their own lives, making history and transforming the relationship between the countryside and work.
It was and is necessary to learn to live with the Semiarid region, which transforms, creates and reinvents forms of coexistence between human beings and nature, both in their social and productive relationships.
Coopercuc, with a variety of experiences, knowledge and practices, has built a project that transforms people's lives, especially women's. After all, they are the protagonists of this story.
