A family agriculture program developed by ENGIE has been a bright spot in the innovation awards in Brazil and overseas. The “Innovation in Resettlement of Communities: the case of the São Salvador Hydroelectric Plant”, located on the Tocantins River, in the south of the state of Tocantins, was awarded at the ANPEI Conference, the largest multi-sectoral event in innovation in the country. The case study was also one of the Brazilian finalists of the Innovation Trophies, an ENGIE Group inhouse global contest held in Paris with the objective of recognizing innovative projects.

Supported in the concept of cooperative association where joint efforts and interests allow common objectives to be more easily achieved, the project has helped families, resettled due to the construction of the São Salvador HPP, to reestablish their socio-economic activities through the support for sustainable agriculture, support which has improved their lives in rural Tocantins. “Traditionally, these families have practiced subsistence agriculture without the concept of cooperative association, and somewhat distant from their reality”, comments Adriano Baldissera, environmental analyst at ENGIE at the São Salvador Plant and one of the idealizers of the project.

Based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), ENGIE has provided a more favorable environment for these rural producers by creating the first association of resettled families in Brazil, AFAP-Tocantins. The association was initially made up of 12 families but was subsequently opened to the community at large and currently has a membership of 69 families. With this project, ENGIE contributes to the SDG 11 of sustainable cities and communities seeking to make cities and human resettlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

With the creation of the association came the empowerment of the families where it has been possible to develop synergies with other players in society, having ENGIE as the link for developing several partnerships, one of these being with the Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (CONAB) the National Supply Company. Through this entity, AFAP has signed up to the Government’s Family Agriculture Food Acquisition Program (PAA). “In addition to giving food security, surplus production has generated an additional income of R$ 800 per month, significantly improving the quality of life of the community”, Baldissera points out.

The association has signed five contracts, together amounting to R$ 1 million and benefiting 6,500 people, successfully raising resources for the acquisition of equipment worth R$ 47 thousand to improve production and commercialization of food crops. With the support of ENGIE, a further seven associations have been set up for scavengers, milk producers and a support group for social development. “This informaton is indicative of the assertiveness of the Company’s socially responsible policies and actions, generating and consolidating the relationship, development and partnership with the local communities”, notes Eduardo Sattamini, Chief Executive and Investor Relations Officer at ENGIE Brasil Energia. The contracts with CONAB guarantee delivery of 228 tons of food for children and the elderly in situations of vulnerability in a region where the average income is lower than the minimum salary.

The advent of cooperative association and sustainable agriculture has created the necessary conditions to improve the quality of life of the families, increasing for example their income, their food security as well as potentially an increase in the range of products sold and consumed in the region. “With this, families that were practicing subsistence agriculture have begun to see surplus production, generating an additional monthly income, their children having access to vocational education. And the empowerment of these families allows other projects to be realized”, Baldissera explains.

The project has been so successful that ENGIE is assessing the possibility of taking it to communities surrounding other hydroelectric plants. “The company develops projects and social, cultural and environmental programs which can serve as a legacy for future generations. The communities in the vicinity of our projects are key stakeholders with which ENGIE seeks to permanently expand a dialog and contribute to local sustainable development”, concludes Eduardo Sattamini.