José Carlos Castro, founding partner and former president of the Arteza Cooperative in Ribeira, Paraíba state, northeastern Brazil. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

By Carlos Müller
CABACEIRAS, Brazil, Nov 11 2024 (IPS)

The small community of Ribeira stands out in the Northeast, the poorest region of Brazil. There is no unemployment here. One in five inhabitants make a living directly or indirectly from the Arteza Cooperative of Tanners and Leather Artisans.

“An idea has the power to transform your world,” said in a philosophical tone Ângelo Macio, president of Arteza, recalling the creation of the cooperative in 1998 under the impulse of a Dutch priest who no longer lives in the region.

“You come to the community and you don’t see unemployed young people, they all work in the workshops, they have their income, they raise their children, they have their houses… their transport. Everything comes from the leather activity”, he said, while showing a sandal made by one of the cooperative’s artisans.

This is the case of Tarcisio de Andrade, 29, and a member of the cooperative for seven years. “I am married and have a son. My wife doesn’t work, but we all live off my work in Arteza. I don’t plan to leave Ribeira,” he said while making a sandal.

The expansion of the cooperative, which has a tannery, a shop selling supplies and tools, other shops selling its products and online commerce, has boosted the local economy. At first, the tannery processed 800 hides per month, then it spiked to 12,000, a number the members had never thought they would reach. Nowadays they process 20,000 hides.

The 1,700 residents of Ribeira seem to believe that anything is possible.

Before, there was no petrol station, no department shops, and no pharmacy. Thanks to the cooperative’s earnings, now they have all that, and people don’t have to travel 13 kilometres to Cabaceiras, the capital of the municipality of 5,300 inhabitants, of which Ribeira is a part.

The headquarters of the Arteza Cooperative in Ribeira, municipality of Cabeceiras, in the microregion of Cariri, with a long tradition of leather work. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Solar energy, the driver

The cooperative’s success is largely due to solar energy. In 2018, it received equipment worth US$ 58,728 from the government of the state of Paraíba, where the municipality is located, with resources from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The savings obtained with the 170 panels installed were decisive.

“Solar energy was a milestone in our history. Today we would be paying 10,000 reais (US$ 1,755) in electricity bills in the tannery alone, and now it’s down to 600 reais (US$ 105). We were able to buy two new machines that allowed us to increase production and improve the quality of the hides,” Macio said.

There was no longer any need to increase the number of panels because when they were installed they were already double what was needed at the time. Today, with this energy, it would be possible to double production and process 40,000 hides.

The original plan was to install photovoltaic panels on the roof of the tannery, but the cooperative’s board of directors came up with a better idea: to build a new roof.

Thus, they increased the drying area for the hides and they seized the opportunity to collect water from the scarce rainfall for the water-consuming treatment of the hides. Apart from the economy, the old roof could only dry 300 skins. Under the solar panels it is possible to dry 2,500.

There is no unemployment in Ribeira, a community of 1,700 inhabitants in northeastern Brazil, says Ângelo Macio, president of Arteza cooperative. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Tradition in leather

At the beginning, the 28 founding members of Arteza were supported by the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae), a private entity financed through a compulsory contribution from the companies. There are now 78 partners, benefiting some 400 families.

The entire micro-region of Cariri, where the municipality is located, and especially Ribeira, have a long tradition of leather work.

Macio’s great-grandfather worked with leather, but his product was rustic and consisted mainly of coarse clothes, hats and work utensils used by the herders to navigate the caatinga, the predominant biome in the northeastern interior with many thorny plants.

The cooperative’s production evolved from traditional products due to the decline of extensive cattle raising and young people’s desire for more modern products. Today, work clothes account for some 10% of the total.

Currently, the flagship product are sandals, which account for about 60% of the total production, including wallets, women’s bags and backpacks, the most expensive product, which cost the equivalent of 150 dollars.

By joining the cooperative, artisans can buy inputs such as glue and tools, as well as leather at cost price. Those who are not members and have other suppliers pay 40% more on average. Members do not need to worry about sales: they hand over the product to the cooperative, which negotiates it with the traders.

When the cooperative receives the money from the sales, it deducts the value of the inputs that the members have withdrawn. In the end, they receive a 30% profit in average.

Some artisans, however, remain faithful to traditional products. This is the case of José Guimarães de Souza, who specialised in the production of quaint ‘horn hats’.

Zé, as everybody knows him, is not a member of the cooperative, although his workshop is 100 metres from it. He learned the trade from his father, whom he reveres with a photo next to a crucifix as if he were an icon. He buys the raw material and sells his hats through a local merchant.

The cooperatives’ products are sold in craft shops all over Brazil, especially in the cities of the Northeast, where the Arteza brand is already recognised. That is why, with Sebrae’s support, the cooperative is working to establish the products’ designation of origin with their own seal next year.

The Arteza cooperative in northeastern Brazil has built a new warehouse to expand the drying of hides and install 170 solar panels, enough to generate twice the energy currently consumed by the tannery. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

“Tomorrow, anything can happen…”

In front of Souza’s workshop, called ‘Zé’s Crafts – The King of the Horn Hat’, a graffiti catches the eye. It reads: “Don’t worry, everything can happen tomorrow, even nothing”. It is the first verse of a local folk song called “The nature of things”.

The tannery was processing 16,000 skins when the pandemic started, forcing the cooperative to suspend work for more than six months. It has now reached 20,000 units. The cooperative’s income grew by 70%, including leather and handicrafts.

“The pandemic’s impact was huge. We went almost to the bottom of the well,” Macio recalled. In late 2021, the cooperative started promoting its products through Instagram and other social media to sell online. At first, this type of sales amounted to 20% of the total. Today it reaches between 35% and 40%.

In Cariri there is not so much leather and the cooperative is forced to buy it from other states. Now the cooperative’s problem is finding raw materials and labour because everyone in the community, especially young people, is already employed.

“Handicrafts have been my survival. Through it I have raised my whole family without having to leave my beloved land”, said José Carlos Castro, a founding member and former president of the cooperative. He currently works in the tannery, doing heavy work: removing the hair and defective parts of the skins.

The “chapéus de chifre”, as the traditional horn hats are called, handcrafted by José Guimarães de Souza and displayed in his workshop, next to the Arteza Cooperative, in the Ribeira community. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Sustainability

Arteza is the only tannery that works with natural products, such as the bark of anjico (Parapiptadenia rígida), a tree native to several South American countries. The tanning process lasts one month. If chemicals, such as chromium, were used, it would only take two days.

“We maintain a natural process to avoid environmental damage and harm to people. The natural process is in our DNA,” Macio explained. But difficulties arise. Existing trees in the region are not enough, although the cooperative avoids predatory consumption.

A few years ago, when the bark was removed, the tree died. Nowadays, the tree is cut down and sprouts again, and can be cut down again after five to six years. From what has been cut, the bark is removed, put through a shredder and placed in tanks with water where it releases the tannin.

When the tannin is gone, the bark is used as mulch for planting fodder palm, a type of cactus used for animal feed in the dry season.

The water is treated and disposed of in the wild and the shelled sticks of the anjicos are used for fencing.

The headquarters of the Capribom agro-industrial cooperative with its roofs covered with photovoltaic panels, in Monteiro, northeastern Brazil. Credit: Courtesy of Capribom

By Carlos Müller
MONTEIRO, Brazil, Nov 1 2024 (IPS)

“Ixe! If it wasn’t for solar energy, we would have closed down, you can be sure. We had to stop due to the pandemic on 15 March 2020, but the energy costs were fixed,” said Erika Cazuza, administrative and financial manager of the Brazilian Cooperative of Rural Producers of Monteiro (Capribom).

Ixe is a word used in the Northeast region of Brazil, which means Virgin and reflects its deep-rooted religious culture.“The solar system caused a 90% reduction in energy costs, which guaranteed operations, even during the pandemic”: Fabricio de Souza Ferreira.

Monteiro, with just over 33,000 people, is a municipality in the driest part of the semi-arid ecoregion, with an area of 1.03 million square kilometres covering several states in the Northeast and a population of 27 million, where rainfall averages only about 600 millimetres per year.

The semi-arid region is also affected by severe droughts that can last for several years, as happened in 2012-2017 in most of the ecoregion. Located on a plateau, at an altitude of 600 metres, Monteiro has a pleasant climate in its 992 square kilometres.

Thanks largely to Capribom, Monteiro, where extensive livestock farming has been the main economic activity since the 18th century, has gone from ranking 126th in gross domestic product (GDP) to 14th among the municipalities of the state of Paraiba, of which it is the largest.

Erika Cazuza, administrative and financial manager of Capribom. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

When talking about solar energy, Cazuza was referring to the 316 panels and other photovoltaic generation equipment installed in 2018 on the roofs of the cooperative’s plant headquarters, in the district of Fazenda Morro Fechado, a transition zone between the rural area and the urban centre of Monteiro.

The investment was made with non-refundable resources from an International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) loan to the government of Paraíba, equivalent to US$62,970, with a counterpart of US$1,830 from the cooperative itself.

“The solar system caused a 90% reduction in energy costs, which guaranteed operations, even during the pandemic,” the cooperative’s president, Fabrício de Souza Ferreira, told IPS. These costs used to be as high as US$2,280 dollars a month.

Goats are better adapted to the semi-arid biome and family farmers have improved their herds by crossing rustic breeds with others that produce more meat and milk in this ecoregion of northeastern Brazil. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Savings brought trucks

The savings enabled the purchase of a truck for distribution of products, which was previously carried out by hired transporters.

Now, the cooperative has six trucks for milk collection and product distribution (yoghurt, cheese, butter, dulce de leche, cottage cheese and others), which have grown from six to 20, with different flavours and presentations.

In recent years, the governments of the Northeastern states have been promoting the production and consumption of goat cheeses. Between 23 and 26 October, the Paraíba Cheese and Cachaça Salon was held in the Paraiba capital, João Pessoa. Capribom presented 12 products and all of them won medals: eight gold and four silver.

Capribom faced great difficulties when the covid-19 pandemic hit the region and the public procurement programmes for food from family farming were suspended for four months.

“Before the pandemic, we had 400 members, four of whom died. With the pandemic, the number of those still supplying milk dropped to 250 because we were still working and could not leave them stranded, although all our employees got sick,” said an emotional Ferreira.

What sustained production then was the supply of milk to the army and the emerging local private market. Deliveries to schools resumed after a few months. Despite the suspension of classes, students still picked up their processed meals.

As the pandemic passed, recovery was vigorous. Today, Capribom, founded in 2006, has 583 registered members and 80 members awaiting approval of their applications by the members’ assembly.

Solar energy enabled dramatic savings in electricity that allowed the Capribom dairy cooperative to buy its first truck. Now it has six trucks collecting milk from producers and distributing their dairy products. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Increased production

In September this year, the dairy plant was processing 18,000 litres of milk per day, of which 12,000 were cow milk and 6,000 were goat milk. Some 15% was produced in three settlements (communities of farmers settled by the agrarian reform) in the region.

Before the pandemic, there were 10,000 litres in total, which in 2020 was reduced to 7,000, of which 3,000 were from goats, explained Ferreira during a tour of the plant.

Initially, the solar installation generated surplus energy, which was used in the milk coolers at the collection centres. The recent expansion required the installation of another 100 solar panels and related equipment, now with the cooperative’s own resources.

“We still have a deficit because the new machines, cooler, pasteuriser and yoghurt maker (3,000 litres) consume a lot of energy, but they have reduced losses. We will need 50 more”, said Ferreira, with satisfaction. Expanding production will require another cold room and more energy, he adds.

In fact, turnover has multiplied. Before the pandemic, Capribom sold the equivalent of two million litres a year; now it’s around seven million.

And the results directly benefit the cooperative’s members, who are guaranteed placement of their production and receive the equivalent of US$0.40 per litre delivered, while other buyers pay only US$0.32.

The president of the Capribom cooperative, Fabrício de Souza Ferreira, with milk treatment equipment. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Capribom’s achievements do not only benefit its members. Although cooperatives in Brazil are exempt from some taxes, the agribusiness contributes around 25% of the revenue of the municipality of Monteiro.

In addition to tax benefits, Brazilian cooperatives have preferential treatment in public tenders.

This allows family farming cooperatives to place their products with stable prices and terms, but has bureaucratic drawbacks and relies on public policies.

Among these initiatives is the National School Feeding Programme (PNAE), which reaches 41 million students in public schools throughout the country, with resources from the federal government transferred to states and municipalities.

This is also the case of the Food Acquisition Programme, through which the government buys food produced by family farming and transfers it to public and welfare entities and so-called popular restaurants.

Public procurement used to absorb 90% of Capribom’s production, a percentage that is now down to 70%. Reducing dependence on government programmes and expanding its market are two of the cooperative’s objectives.

“With other family farming cooperatives, we created a central cooperative, called Nordestina, to jointly sell everything from dairy products to fruit pulp, tubers, free-range chickens and eggs, which allows us to reach more markets with reduced costs,” Ferreira said.

Wesley Cristyan Batista da Silva, a graduate in agroecology who has been working for two months on the evaluation of milk delivered by producers at the Capribom agroindustrial plant. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Slaughterhouse recovery

The most important project for the end of 2024 is to put into operation the Goat and Sheep Slaughterhouse of Monteiro, located next to Capribom’s own slaughterhouse.

This agro-industry was built by the national government in 2000 and handed over to a consortium of municipalities. The management contract expired and the facilities were never put into operation. They were looted or became scrap metal.

“In the current government, technicians visited us and saw the potential. We negotiated with the state government and the mayor’s office. The national government passed the facilities to the state, which passed them on to the mayor’s office, and the mayor’s office gave Capribom a transfer of use,” Ferreira said.

The cooperative recovered part of the equipment. The government of Paraíba is acquiring new cold rooms and installing them on site.

With a capacity to slaughter 120 small animals daily (goats and sheep, and eventually pigs), the slaughterhouse will be the only one in Paraíba complying with the sanitary standards required by Brazilian legislation and will be able to participate in public procurement programmes.

Deboned cuts of sheep and goat meat will be sent to schools. Whole pieces will be sent to other entities, but Ferreira does not lose sight of the market for special cuts. “It’s a small market, but it’s a gourmet type market,” he explained.

Capribom has 50 employees, and another 30 will work in the slaughterhouse when it starts to operate normally.

According to administrative director Cazuza, 80% of the employees are children of the cooperative members.

This is the case of Wesley Cristyan Batista da Silva, who has a degree in agro-ecology and has been working for two months evaluating the milk delivered by the producers to the dairy and providing them with technical assistance.

Historically, young people from family farming emigrated from the semi-arid region due to a lack of study and work opportunities.

Da Silva is part of a different generation. He has a university degree and combines collaboration in the family property with employment in the cooperative. “Am I satisfied? Yes. It was what I wanted and what I intend to continue doing,” he told IPS confidently.