Seeds for Tomorrow: State Youth Farm Works With Native Seeds and Encourages Indigenous Youth To Preserve Traditions (Portuguese)

Um Só Planeta went to Roraima to talk to residents of the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land about the benefits and challenges of an agroforestry project run by young leaders in the region.

From all sides, the sounds of hoeing fill the room. In every corner of the farm, young people are working on a different crop. Even at first glance, it is clear that there is a well-defined system. Here, the pepper trees are planted. Next door, the banana plantation. Further on, sweet potatoes are already growing. A few meters away, the lines where the land is prepared to receive the mangrove. At the back, a vegetable garden and a seedling nursery.

"For us, this is community work and everyone has a specific role," explains Paulo Ricardo, a Macuxi regional youth coordinator in the Raposa Region. "Everyone has their own responsibility and goal to fulfill at the end of the day," he adds.

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Before entering the state youth farm, Paulo asks that negative energies and feelings be left behind. On the shores of the sacred Lake Caracaranã, the regional center of the same name that houses the farm demands special respect.

Located in the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land, which was approved in 2005, the Caracaranã Regional Center is often the scene of workshops and assemblies, such as the 52nd General Assembly of the Indigenous Peoples of Roraima, which took place in March 2023 and was attended by President Lula.

The idea of creating the state youth farm arose last year, from a collective demand of the youth coordinations of the nine regions of action of the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR). After a first attempt at the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Center for Training and Culture, which did not go ahead due to logistical difficulties, the youth leaders reaffirmed their commitment in January this year, now at the Caracaranã Regional Center.