Abstract
LINKAGES addresses how value-chains of sociobiodiversity products, grounded in local knowledge and produced in forest, agroforestry, and floodplain-lakes, can support local economies and regional transformation towards inclusive and sustainable bioeconomies for the Brazilian Amazon. From local to international markets, sociobiodiversity products represent the region’s largest and most inclusive bioeconomies, providing income and employment for a vast population in rural and urban areas. Yet, these value-chains tend to promote value-aggregation, proportionally to the distance these products travel from their place of origin and producers’ hands. The project focuses on two regions – the Estuary/Acará Valley and the Lower Amazon/Santarem – characterised by mosaic, fast-changing landscapes. We will co-produce applied knowledge on three major groups of sociobiodiversity products in forest (timber, non-timber forest products), agroforestry (açaí, cacao, tropical fruits), and floodplain-lakes (pirarucu fish/Arapaima) systems. The concept of Place-based Sustainable Supply Chains guides case selection where producers co-design, but often do not benefit from the value-aggregation of their products. Through inter- and transdisciplinary knowledge co-production, involving small-scale producers, socioenvironmental NGOs, and sustainability-oriented businesses, the project is structured in three Working Packages. WP1 addresses the economic and social contributions of sociobiodiverse products’ value-chains, how benefits are distributed among stakeholders, and how to improve local-level value-aggregation. WP2 addresses, through geospatial analysis and participatory mapping, value-chains’ impacts on the landscape, and identifies opportunities to promote sustainable multifunctional landscapes. WP3 engages stakeholders in knowledge co-production and exchange to strengthen place-based value-chains. The project contributes with a critical perspective to the bioeconomy agenda and practices in the region, while co-produced applied knowledge strengthens the economic, environmental, administrative and technical performances of existing bioeconomies. We aim to contribute to value-aggregation, benefit sharing, and multifunctional landscape outcomes for families, communities, and municipalities at the basis of these value-chains as a pathway to regional transformation.
Netherlands