ReSeed is partnering with Equipe de Conservação da Amazônia (ECAM) to connect smallholder farmers in Brazil with carbon markets.
The new partnership intends to support farmers in accessing additional revenue streams available through selling carbon credits, also aiming to avoid continued agriculture-related deforestation in the Amazon. Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil reached a five-year low in 2023, and smallholder farmers are reportedly key to avoiding additional damage–large-scale, mechanized agriculture is the second main cause of forest conversion in the Amazon.
Small-scale farmers are known for using agricultural practices that instead work in harmony with surrounding ecosystems.
Since most of these farmers live below the poverty line, many turn to selling lumber to generate additional income. Allowing farmers to instead benefit from carbon markets may therefore avoid continued reliance on cutting down forested areas.
"Supporting, amplifying, and advocating for environmental resilience within traditional and indigenous communities throughout Brazil has been at ECAM's core for over two decades,” said Fabio Rodrigues, technical director and team lead for ECAM. “In the first year of our partnership with ReSeed, we've seen the tremendous real-world impact that increased incomes and specialized technical support have had in maintaining the communities' way of life and farms to promote forest and ecosystem health."
In addition to the new partnership, ReSeed said at the end of 2023 that it would be working with Dengo to add Brazil cacao farmers to the company’s carbon credit program. ECAM reportedly oversaw onboarding of Dengo’s farmers to ReSeed’s carbon credit platform, with 59 farms signed onto the protocol during the first partnership period. The company explains that 50% of these carbon credit sales go directly to smallholder cacao farmers and 30% go to on-the-ground farm support teams.
Businesses may support smallholder farmers by purchasing carbon credits through ReSeed’s platform. The company also specializes in measuring and verifying agriculture-related carbon credits.
The USDA claims that the global agriculture industry may greatly benefit from carbon markets. The department recently released a report emphasizing how farming communities, particularly rural farming regions, may achieve financial advantages by selling carbon credits. Specifically, farmers engaging in regenerative farming, land conservation, or carbon sequestration may be eligible to access additional income.
