This family based agroecological initiative is led and inspired by feminist farmer Fátima Maria dos Santos, coordinator of the network of agroecological and solidarity markets in Ceará State. It supports egalitarian gender relations and promotes solidarity within socially integrated agricultural systems.
Preservation of native species and conservation of water resources have been shown to enhance the resilience of local ecosystems.
The farmers of the rural Jenipapo community have access to relatively small areas of farm land and produce most farming inputs agroecologically within the agroecosystem, without mechanization. Land access is distributed equitably by the community association.
The agroecosystem is managed by Fátima with the collaboration of her sons and daughters. When presenting a course about Multiplier Agents in Agroecology held by Study Centre for Work and Advice to Workers, (CETRA) in 2004 she realised she was already a practicing agroecological farmer. Since then she has more consciously applied the principles of agroecology in her farming practice, retaining native vegetation and developing agroforestry systems. The family has a large cistern that is filled with rainwater in the rainy season to support subsystems of:
Labour is supplied by the family itself. External resources were supplied by environmental projects for fencing and seedling acquisition. A seed bank has been created in the Jenipapo community, and the initiative contributes to and benefits from this.
