Action Aid Projects

Francinaldo sits in the office of the Association of Land Reform Settlements of Maranhao State (ASSEMA) in the town of Pedreiras. ASSEMA is an umbrella NGO of associations operated for and by rural peasants and babau nut crackers. Founded in the late 1980s as a result of land conflicts in the region, It's main goal is to improve living conditions in the countryside by promoting local and family oriented agricultural production, while using and preserving the babassu palm trees.The babassu palm, native to this northeastern corner of Brazil, is an important part of the local culture and economy - more than 60 products come from it including oil used for cooking and cosmetics as well as the nutshell which is used as cooking fuel. British NGO Action Aid has helped support ASSEMA since 1999 - in particular the Escola Familia Agricula Antonio Fontenele (EFA). (AustralFoto/Douglas Engle)

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Francinaldo sits in the office of the Association of Land Reform Settlements of Maranhao State (ASSEMA) in the town of Pedreiras. ASSEMA is an umbrella NGO of associations operated for and by rural peasants and babau nut crackers. Founded in the late 1980s as a result of land conflicts in the region, It's main goal is to improve living conditions in the countryside by promoting local and family oriented agricultural production, while using and preserving the babassu palm trees.The babassu palm, native to this northeastern corner of Brazil, is an important part of the local culture and economy - more than 60 products come from it including oil used for cooking and cosmetics as well as the nutshell which is used as cooking fuel. British NGO Action Aid has helped support ASSEMA since 1999 - in particular the Escola Familia Agricula Antonio Fontenele (EFA). (AustralFoto/Douglas Engle)

engle brazil charity ngo britain england agriculture peasant babassu maranhao