The açaí (ah-sigh-ee) is a small, purple berry which hangs in clusters from the açaí palms growing in the Brazilian Amazon. Despite its rather unremarkable looks, the açaí berry is extremely rich in nutritious content and a potent antioxidant. To meet rising global demand for this “superfood” there has been a significant increase in açaí cultivation, either in the form of monocultures promoted by external developers or in mixed cultivation stands managed by local smallholder farmers.

At the joint workshop organised by Bioversity International and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) at the recent IUCN World Conservation Congress, Christine Padoch, Director of forests and livelihoods research at CIFOR, highlighted the role that smallholder farmers play in sustainably managing forest systems by relying on traditional management practices. Using shifting cultivation and managing natural regeneration they support food production and income while maintaining forest cover and existing forest biodiversity.

In areas that were originally thought to be unproductive, smallholder farmers have been successfully growing the açaí by clearing natural forests and leaving some tree species within mixed cultivation models that contain, for instance, timber species and rice paddies. CIFOR calls for increased recognition of the role smallholder farmers play in raising the economic potential of standing forests.