FAS created the first Sustainable Business Incubator of the Amazon. In 6 years (2017 -2022), forest enterprises supported by the initiative had revenues of near R$ 3 million
The economy in the Amazon needs new guidelines, in tune with the environment and society. It needs to escape from the script to which it has been tied for centuries, the one that dictates that only extraction is done, the fauna and flora are seen exclusively as resources and not as patrimony, and nothing is invested. It needs a different attitude towards its potentials, with people at the center of the decisions and as the main beneficiaries of the financial gains.
Native examples of practices that well balance economic progress, equality, and environmental valuation already exist. For others to develop and multiply throughout the region, FAS coordinates the Sustainable Business Incubator. Between 2017 and 2022, community-based companies supported by the foundation reached revenues of almost R$ 3 million.
Photo credit: Emile Gomes
Created in 2013, the FAS Sustainable Business Incubator was the first Amazonian initiative in this category within the third sector. The incubator aims to contribute to the growth of Amazonian community enterprises, providing resources, such as access to credit, and services, including training, technical assistance and exchange with organizations in the sector. Thus, it stimulates the economy and innovation in the forest, oriented towards income generation and the maintenance of the standing forest. After all, a fertile and conserved environment is an essential condition for these businesses to prosper.
In order for traditional activities to expand their reach and production, without losing their identity, FAS applies technological solutions adapted to Amazonian realities. The case of the Ribeirinha Flour Packing Plant project exemplifies the differential of the mentoring provided by the Sustainable Business Incubator. Located in the Campo Novo community, more than 600 km from Manaus (AM), the packer was structured with solar power and internet systems for the processing of cassava flour “A Ribeirinha”, produced by farmers in the region, and facilitate contact with buyers.
Flour packing plant in Uarini (AM) receives installation of solar power and internet system
“So the arrival of both the internet and the solar modules here at the enterprise’s packaging plant will help us overcome a bottleneck that has been hindering our business for over two years,” says Raimundo Rodrigues “Xexéu”, president of the Association of Residents and Users of the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve (Amurmam).
Photo credit: Rodolfo Pongelupe
“The packing company has the seal, so the people buy it and it is already sealed to Tefé, to Manaus, and from there it will have the quality of our community. With our brand, our flour will already be known“.
Raimunda Batalha, farmer and flour producer in the Campo Novo Community (AM)
In 2022, the Sustainable Business Incubator obtained the CERNE 1 Certification – Processes and practices. Regulated by the National Association of Entities Promoting Innovative Enterprises (Anprotec) in partnership with Sebrae, the certification recognizes the quality and efficiency of the incubator’s management method. “The results achieved by FAS’ business incubator with the conquest of a national certification place us as the first innovation environment of the third sector, qualified to develop sustainable businesses in the Amazon“, points out Wildney Mourão, manager of the Amazon Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Business Program (Pensa) of FAS.
Read the guide “Laboratory of Amazonian Business Practices“, produced by FAS: