One of the great challenges to be faced by Latin American cities is to establish a sustainable relationship between urban and rural areas. Urban sprawl still threatens an area equivalent to 2.5 times the area of ​​Manhattan. At the same time, gaining organic certification can be costly and lengthy progress for small farmers who find no incentives to do so.

The objective of the whole project is to strengthen the value chain of local agriculture using technology as a tool for integration and coordination between initiatives and stakeholders associated with the agricultural chain – from the public sector and civil society.

To provide healthy food for vulnerable people, the ‘farmer under agroecological transition’ certification was created for the São Paulo peri-urban zone and the surrounding region (the Parelheiros area, 50km out of São Paolo). The municipal programme supports local farmers who transition to regenerative practices by purchasing their products at 30% more than the market value. In addition, the municipal ‘Houses of Ecological Farming’ and the ‘Technical Assistance and Rural Extension’ provide to local farmers technical assistance, access to training, equipment, and financial support. Moreover, the project also improves road infrastructure and provides access to warehouses and a network of street markets and small food retailers. A digital platform has also been launched, to support the management of the technical assistance provided to farmers. The platform includes a planning tool, allows authorised technicians to collect data to support public policies evaluation, and to submit documentation and monitor action plans in a single portal. The project costs approximately US$2.5M and is funded via Bloomberg Philanthropies 2016 Mayors Challenge.

160 farmers are now involved in the project and around 40% have fully converted from conventional to organic or regenerative practices. As a result, the project contributes to build soil health by returning organic waste to the soil through a decentralised network of composting facilities which produces low-cost, high-quality compost suitable for organic, regenerative farming. Initially thought to conserve forest reserves against the increasing urbanization, the project thus protects biodiversity and local waterways of drought. Finally, it guides farmers to reduce their reliance on synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, hence producing high-quality local food and tackling climate change.

Photo from project website