TF005 IAI

Climate-Resilient Agroforestry in Quilombola Communities of the Brazilian Amazon 

Principal investigator (PI): 

Daniel Palma Perez Braga, Federal University of Pará, daniel.braga@ufpa.br 

Duration & funding: 

USD 30.000 

Participating countries:  

Brazil and United States of America 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Forest-dependent livelihoods in Amazonia are at a crossroads. Smallholder agroforestry is at the heart of a sustainable Amazonian bioeconomy. By integrating trees with agricultural crops or animals, agroforestry systems maintain livelihoods and food production while supporting diverse ecological services. Climate change is disrupting Amazonian agroforestry, however, and research and policy are lagging. This project for “Climate-Resilient Agroforestry in Quilombola Communities of the Brazilian Amazon” responds to critical gaps in prevailing knowledge and policy models through transdisciplinary research with Amazonian smallholders, who are already using traditional knowledge and experimentation to adapt to climate disruptions. We will pilot intercultural participatory action-research on climate-resilient agroforestry in partnership with Afro-descendant quilombola communities in Marajó archipelago in the Amazon estuary. In particular, we will explore climate challenges and adaptations in agroforestry homegardens, which are traditionally managed by women and which support food sovereignty, health, income, and traditional culture.Through co-produced research with the grassroots Vila União/Campina Center for Quilombola Action and Resistance (NARQ) and the Vila União/Campina quilombola community of Marajó, this project will enhance homegarden climate resilience with low-cost technologies to support the livelihoods, traditional knowledge, and territorial sovereignty of quilombola communities, while also identifying institutional and policy measures to support small-farmer climate adaptations. Ultimately, this project will lay foundations for community-based agroforestry and climate research and knowledge-sharing across the lower Amazon, helping to sustain tropical forest ecosystems while building a more equitable and resilient Amazonian bioeconomy.