From December 11th to 13th, representatives of 16 subprojects selected in the first call for proposals of DGM Brasil participated in an exchange of experiences with market-oriented projects. On the first day, they learned about the work of the Central do Cerrado (Brasília - DF), established by 35 community organizations - from the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Pará, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso and Goiás - that develop productive activities based on the sustainable use of sociobiodiversity of the Cerrado biome. The work developed allows the connection between community producers and consumers, offering products for restaurants, small markets and delicatessen, as well as cocktails, finger food and snacks for events.
Also on the 11th, in the afternoon, they visited the production space of Coopafama, one of the organizations associated with the Central do Cerrado, located in the settlement Colônia I, in the municipality of Padre Bernardo (Goiás State). Coopafama works with organic agriculture, handicrafts and the production of the delicacies offered in the ecosocial cocktails of the Central do Cerrado, such as jams, pastries and cakes made with products from the socio-biodiversity of the Cerrado biome. It is made up of two distinct groups: the Grupo Vida e Preservação (men) and the Grupo Sabor do Cerrado (women), which presented the production process, the collective work in the settlement, the main challenges and the relationship within the cooperative.
On Tuesday (December 12th), the subprojects got to know the work carried out by Copabase, in the city of Arinos (Minas Gerais State), in the Rio Urucuia Valley. The cooperative is dedicated to family farming and solidarity economy, attending the municipalities of Bonfinópolis de Minas, Buritis, Formoso, Pintópolis, Riachinho, Urucuia and Uruana de Minas. To see the work that is carried out "at the edge", in the afternoon, the group went to the Carlos Lamarca settlement in Uruana de Minas. There they visited the productive yard of the Dona Cleide and were enchanted with the crozé craft in line dyed with substances extracted from plants of the Cerrado biome. On the last day of the exchange (December 13th), the representatives of the subprojects learned about the crafts of Central Veredas, a cooperative member of Copabase.
