IDH and the North Export Corridor Research Support Foundation (Fapcen) presented on July 10, during an online event for more than 100 people, an invitation to establish the Produce, Preserve and Include (PPI) Compact for the Balsas-MA region.
The purpose of the event was to invite representatives from the government, companies, communities, farmers, NGOs and other stakeholders to be a participating part in the construction of this joint vision for a long-term sustainability planning use of the territory.
During the event, the vice-governor of Maranhão, Carlos Brandão, made it clear that the State is available for discussion and willing to find solutions that generate more employment and income opportunities. “I understand that we have to work in partnership so that we are able to generate more opportunities and improve people’s quality of life,” reinforced Carlos Brandão.
IDH’s Global Director of Sustainable Landscapes, Daan Wensing, mentioned that the objective is to go beyond the creation of a local coalition by establishing connections with European investors and markets for the supply of sustainable origin products. “We want to associate the Balsas and region Compact with investments, because we are partners with many global funds that are interested in looking at these compacts as opportunities to improve land use,” Wensing reported.
The landscape development model proposed for the Balsas Region is similar to the one promoted by IDH in the Mato Grosso state and aims to boost sustainability in productive chains and territories through the development of coalitions with companies, NGOs, governments, unions, farmers, local associations, financial institutions and universities.
In order to describe and provide details on how this process is conducted, the executive director of the PCI Institute ( Produce, Conserve and Include), Fernando Sampaio, talked about the Mato Grosso experience which was endorsed by the example of the PCI Compact regionalization, presented by the Mayor of Sorriso, Ari Lafin.
Fapcen will implement the Compact in the region. “We are going commit to our role as a bridge, which is nowadays also very strong at an international level”, declared Paulo Kreling, president of the entity.
The establishment of the PPI Compact follows a four-step process: first, there is the development of a scope, with a wide range of information about the region and the activities developed; Second and simultaneously there’s a local coalition formed by various stakeholders; the third step is the drafting of long-term goals and baselines, which will guide the actions; and the last step is the public signing of the commitment by all the actors involved, thus establishing the Compact through a public Memorandum of Understanding.