About Us – Eco Farm – Brazil

• Theoretical and practical knowledge on how to implement profitable coffee in agroforestry systems.
• How to design the systems, prepare the soil, plant the trees, install irrigation systems, maintain and prune the systems, ensure safety, harvest, process, market and sell the coffee.
• Influence and convince local farmers to substitute their polluting practices for agroforestry systems and create a snowball effect.

• Theoretical and practical knowledge on how to bioconstruct houses.
• Observing the location, selecting natural and recycled materials, and designing the house.
• Techniques for insulation, drainage, and safety.
• Tools and equipment required for construction.
• How to sell these concepts to generate income.

• How to generate money with sustainable concepts.
• Market research and business concept development.
• Financing/fundraising, marketing and sales.

• How do cooperations function
• Benefits of cooperations
• Step by step how to set up and manage a cooperation

• Impact the region and later country through the youngest generations, specially vulnerable groups and nearby communities.

• Prepare and form underprivileged youth from vulnerable backgrounds who lack quality job opportunities.
• Train farmers around from different communities to become multipliers.
• Influence and inspire adoption of the model by local communities.

One of the main goals of the Ecolibrium project is to convince local farmers to substitute their polluting practices for agroforestry systems and create a snowball effect. We want to start in Nova Friburgo which has today 1.820 farmers (following data of Program Rio Rural-Região Serrana) and later expand to the entire mountain region summing up to 17.477 farmers. Usual farmers are from low to medium income families with an average salary of R$ 2.318 per month. Once we are able to convince local farmers we believe we will attract farmers from across the country and worldwide who want to learn these techniques. Ecolibrium will offer the right infrastructure to attend this demand.

Our goal is to impact the region and later country through the youngest generations (schools and universities). We want to attend 18.000 children from municipal public schools and 12.000 from state public schools in Nova Friburgo. A total of 122 schools. Our idea is to select 3-5% of the most motivated children for an intensive educational program in our farm. This is 540 – 900 children. The city has public and private universities offering 38 undergraduate courses in science areas: human, biological, social, environmental, education, health, exact sciences, technology and innovations. There are approximately 3,000 university students from the city, the region and other locations. We want to serve, through training programs, between 3-5% (90 – 150) of undergraduate students who demonstrate a motivated profile to actively participate in training and collaboration.

Our focus is on underprivileged youth from vulnerable backgrounds who lack quality job opportunities. As explained before 40% came from an orphanage, 90% came from underprivileged families, 20% came directly from the streets. Most come from Rio de Janeiro, a few from Nova Friburgo and we also have received a few Venezuelan and Argentinian refugees. 2024 we will receive one apprentice of our partner project Mais Caminhos and another from our partner project Off Grid in Nova Friburgo. With the new compound we want to receive a total of 16 apprentices who will live and work full time at the farm. This is four times more than now.

We want to serve all segments of the region and train people from different social classes by promoting inclusion and integration. We believe that the dissemination of bioconstruction techniques will bring benefits to the environment, people and the planet. With the construction of the Ecolibrium Center we will be able to offer courses and training programs for all people who want to apply more sustainable techniques suited to the current situation of our planet. Especially for the most vulnerable and poor people, we want to develop the concept of small, low-cost houses to guarantee housing and food security.

Of course this is somewhat ambitious to say we will train farms around the world to become multipliers as we are becoming. Still what we have seen around South America is that most permaculture farm concepts are poorly managed resulting in limited results. Combining sustainable techniques with a good business concept is our strength and can generate enormous social and environmental impact in the long run. We already are overwhelmed by demand for volunteers, apprentices and requests for consultancy on bioconstruction projects. With a beautiful self-sustaining farm, a permaculture school, with organic coffee production, a restaurant with own products we expect to become the permaculture farm in Brazil in the next 5 years.

8.1.1 Research and knowledge build up

For the past 9 years, we have been attending training courses with the best agroforestry specialists in the world to learn sustainable techniques. After analysing the climate and market for products, we have decided to focus on coffee tree cultivation within agroforestry systems. The climate in the mountain region is ideal for coffee production. Especially with global warming our region is even better appropriated for coffee production as the cooler temperatures here are better than some traditional regions where rising temperatures are creating more difficulty for the coffee farmers. The coffee will be processed on the farm to add value. We have already planted 6.500 native, fruit, and hardwood trees, and 1.500 coffee trees. We use 250 different species of trees of which the majority native trees from the Mata Atlantica. Our goal is to expand this system to 7 hectares, with 3 hectares being the minimum required for profitable coffee production within the next 5 years. The end product will be special organic Arabic Coffee, which has high value in the market. We are currently experimenting with 3 types of Arabic coffee: Araras, Catuai Amarelo (yellow) and Catuai Vermelho (Red).

Example design coffee consortium with tree lines and coffee in between.

“ Agroforestry is defined as the integration of trees, shrubs, palm trees into crop and animal farming systems. These practices can help landowners diversify products and create social, economic, and environmental benefits. Trees and forests provide more than just food, they can enhance soils, produce wood for construction, protect biodiversity, preserve and improves precious water supplies, and even helps to reduce the impacts of climate change.”
Coffee is a very favorable market. It is an aspect that contributes to the producers’ interest in working with organic coffee (Revista de Política Agrícola, Ano XXIX – N° 2 – Abr./Maio/Jun. 2020). As these techniques are innovative and yet unknown, we did specialized training across the country with the best to learn to implement these techniques. The idea is to process the coffee on the farm to “special coffee”. Why is special coffee so interesting? Special coffee triplicates the prices and the demand for special coffee is growing constantly, the climate change is making the coffee production in monoculture ever more difficult and expensive as the fertilizers are getting more expensive and irrigation is getting more complex as draughts are increasing around the world. Agroforestry coffee does not need fertilizer after the first year and can stop using irrigation after 3 years.

Eco Caminhos experiments with agroforestry (SAF: Sistema Agroflorestal) coffee production in agroforestry systems also is a great way to attract ecotourism. Agencies organize coffee tours all around Brazil. Would you not be interested in visiting a sustainable farm that produces organic coffee in agroforestry systems? Within agroforestry systems we can reduce fertilizers and irrigation to almost zero after 3 years. It will not only make our coffee organic and of better quality but we can simply compete with the farms due to the fact that our production costs will be lower over time. This trend is likely to increase in the future as our climate situation is getting worse and fertilizer prices rising due to the dependence on gas for its manufacturing. Within agroforestry farmers can continue to plant their annual crop such as vegetables in combination with their coffee plantation which will make the threshold lower as farmers can continue to do as they were used to and farmers can sell their vegetables within 30 to 60 days after planting preventing them from having to wait 4 years before the first coffee is harvested and income is generated.

The graph above is indicative and shows what we expect to happen with special coffee in agroforestry. Initial costs to implement the system are much higher than with monoculture. Initial costs include training, soil preparation, 250 species of trees, tools, manual labor etc. In the graph you can also see that only at year 5 we start to make profits. The big difference in profit margins will be the fact that in agroforestry we sell special organic coffee and in monoculture cultivation we need to heavily fertilize every year as coffee demand a high quality nutrients. Another cost saver for agroforestry is irrigation which is only needed for the first three years. Coffee trees within agroforestry systems will also live three times longer and thus profit longer. Another benefit from the agroforestry systems is that after 14 years we can harvest hardwood which will give a boost to profit margins.

8.1.2 How to convince the local farmers?

We aim to train local farmers to implement the same system to transform polluting monocultural farms into sustainable agroforestry practices by showing our example and our profit margins. We will open doors and invite farmers to show our concept and also the financial results. For those who are convinced we will start intensive training:
• Agroforestry in theory and practice
• Maintenance of the systems
• Harvesting and pruning
• Drying, roasting, and packaging
• Sales
• Business development
• Setting up cooperations among several farmers
• Financing of the projects
We also believe we need to find incentives to cover initial costs of agroforestry systems are high and the financial profits only start from 5 years. Interests rates in Brazil are among the highest in the world so lending money is impossible for small farmers. In the first years we can also sell the coffee for the farmers until we can develop cooperations among the coffee producers. Our idea is to start with local farmers and expand throughout Brazil and the world once we are successful. We expect that within 5 years, we should have 10 farmers in the region who have successfully implemented agroforestry systems. In 10 years, we believe this number can increase to 100 farmers, and in 20 years, 10,000 farmers around Brazil and the world. The success of this project depends on the quality of the business concept and training, for which we will need the Ecolibrium space.

8.1.3. Stimulating and creating Cooperatives

Once the first coffee farmers have initiated their cultivation of coffee agroforestry systems we want to set up a first cooperative organisation with these farmers. This to democratically control the sales of products, collectively buy seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, irrigation systems. As explained in the mission, the Ecolibrium Association wants to focus on education, training and guidance and not on exploring local farmers. We want to collaborate with local farmers to again set the example. We think that each microregion will need to set up its own cooperative. By pooling resources and negotiating collectively, farmers can access better prices, quality, and quantity of inputs and outputs. Farmers can also benefit from economies of scale, shared infrastructure, and risk management. Once we reach other regions we research and develop other systems such cacao production, specific fruit production. At Ecolibrium we want to develop complete training programs for farmers to establish their own cooperation in partnership with local training agencies such as: SEBRAE, Embrapa, Emater, OCB, local universities and others.

We often receive requests for visits from schools and universities that lack any type of practical classes in sustainable agriculture, permaculture, agroforestry and bioconstruction. Sometimes we are able to provide training, but many times we are unable to do so due to lack of infrastructure. With the Ecolibrium space this limitation will end as we will be able to serve larger groups more frequently. Also with the restaurant we will be able to serve these groups all day long as until now we can only receive one group for a morning or afternoon as we are unable to offer lunch. For many students, sustainability is an important reason to study biology, agronomy or forestry, but they need practical classes. And, most teachers have little knowledge about agroforestry, bioconstruction and permaculture and no practical experience. We also frequently receive former students for volunteering experiences and are surprised by how little or no knowledge they have on the topic.
Local schools and universities want to collaborate and with the infrastructure we can establish partnerships that will be good for them, for us, for the public served. In addition to students, teachers can also put their knowledge into practice on the farm.
Additionally, we can offer consultancy for schools and universities to implement their agroforestry systems to manage their waste such as composting, vegetable gardens, water use, etc. To develop a special educational project, we have invited leaders from Nova Friburgo’s educational systems who are concerned with social and environmental development. An example of this was the visiting meeting held with local professionals, including: Marcelo Verley, former secretary of education, President of the Science, Technology and Innovation Council, University Professor and Researcher at UERJ Ana Moreira, Alicia Vieira, course coordinator of architecture at Estácio de Sá university, among others. Everyone agrees that there is a great need for complementary training spaces on the topics of sustainability, sustainable development, production and consumption, climate action, preservation and conservation, among others. Together we developed a plan to structure the partnership between different local actors with the aim of having Ecolibrium as a strategic partner to include practical and complementary activities in the university curriculum.

Our on-farm learning program has been operating since 2015 and has welcomed young people in vulnerable situations. So far 24 participants have stayed here for periods of three months to three years learning permaculture, agroforestry, bioconstruction, and English. Most young people learned to work responsibly and correctly, becoming respectful citizens. In addition to learning about agricultural practices, they also learned how to take care of their domestic needs. The results are astonishing and we can see the real transformation in their lives.

A few facts:
• 40% came from an orphanage,
• 90% came from underprivileged families,
• 20% came directly from the streets.
• 100% who finished the program left the organization with a job.
• 20% now speak advanced English
• 2 apprentices are now contracted by Eco Caminhos
• 33% who did not finish asked to return to the program for a second chance.
With the new space we expect to be able to attend up to 16 apprentices on a yearly basis which is four times the amount we attend now. We will also be able to expand our vocational training with hospitality, culinary and processing of coffee, vegetables, fruits, milk and eggs in more valuable products that can be conserved and sold. 16 does not seem much but it is important to state that we are dealing with apprentices in vulnerable situations with deficits in education and practical skills. Apprentices often require support in cooking, cleaning, and professionalism. We prefer quality over quantity and guarantee a life changing experience that will offer opportunities that before the experience were impossible. For this reason we believe that 16 is the absolute maximum for one center. Supervised by our employees, apprentices have an important role to operate the farm and the future Ecolibrium Space. So with the apprentices we are able to attend a larger number of other stakeholders groups mentioned below. In the next 5-10 years we want to become a recognized education center for underprivileged youngsters in Brazil and beyond.

The Ecolibrium Space will house a multifunctional area that will be used as a restaurant, common space, course center, and event space. We will welcome people from the city, region, across the country, and the world. With a unique design, we hope that the space will inspire people to copy and replicate the model.
Currently the farm already has two beautiful houses, one cow pen, tool shed, and chicken coop. And we combine natural construction with the best techniques for rational use of energy using solar energy and biomass, thermal heating techniques to improve climatic comfort, keeping houses warm in winter and cool in summer. In the region, many houses have problems with the lack of adequate heating in winter and high humidity in summer, but in our houses, we do not have these problems. Today, we receive several requests to implement bioconstruction projects in house construction in different parts of the country. As we are not yet able to provide assistance, we have appointed trained professionals here at our farm. In Nova Friburgo alone, five houses have already been built, outside the farm, based on our experience or recommendations. And these requests are increasing, as the work is already being recognized and sought after, reflecting Ecolibrium’s appreciation. Each year, we will prepare new bioconstruction professionals who will be qualified through apprenticeship programs. Our impact is spreading across the world. For example, two former volunteers applied the techniques learned here to found Quinta Tommati de Portugal, and now they are also training others in Portugal.
Our next step will be to provide professional support to these farms, including online training, guidance, and experts from our farm dedicating time to these new projects to train people locally. This can generate a huge impact and a snowball effect where new established farms begin to form others.
With the “Ecolibrium Space”, which will be a 927 m² of circular bioconstruction complex with a green roof and together with the other buildings on the farm, it will be a great inspiration, further increasing the impact of our work. Therefore, we expect a lot of publicity during construction and especially after the inauguration since, since now, we have already received frequent requests for interviews and articles from local and regional news and communication channels. On our YouTube channel we present some videos and advertising materials that will be expanded in the future.

Once the Ecolibrium space is ready and showing positive results, we will be able to offer support to other farms, schools and social organizations with similar aims and objectives around the world. We will need to select organizations that understand that a good business plan is required to impact socially and environmentally. We are already are a reference for some farms that use our concept as example. Now each region will have its own specific climate, market, challenges and opportunities. It is a matter of doing social, environmental and market research. Find the right products that can generate income within a local designed agroforestry system. And as in our case, the potential to generate additional income through ecotourism, courses, training and product sales will also contribute to financial health. Once an organization reaches a mature level, it becomes a reference and demonstrates functionality in different places and realities.