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1 COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 210

2 Marcelo Valle Part 4 Looking to the Future: Challenges of sustainability COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 211

3 The principal challenges The Programa Comunidades Semi-árido is now a decade old, and from the history presented here can surely be described as established. But that achievement, significant as it is, must also be understood as contingent, for the communities need and want the continued support of COEP and its partners. To borrow a phrase from another time and place, COEP and the communities have reached the end of the beginning. Their experience has generated a number of challenges which COEP, its partners, and the communities themselves must address if their work together is to last. Participants in the Programa have identified some of these explicitly during this research; other remain latent, but not far from the surface. These challenges could be seen as problems born of success, but they nonetheless highlight the task of sustaining what has already been accomplished. To issues arising from community conversations, we have added others generated by individuals reflecting on the course of the Programa. The list that follows thus COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 212

4 PA RT includes issues linked to both dimensions of this story: those touching on development and change on the ground within communities, and those of a more institutional nature, related to the management of the Programa and the roles of COEP and its partner organizations. Taken together, they comprise a strategic and operational agenda for the participants in the Programa in the short to medium term. 1 The principal challenges and the opportunities they suggest are these: 1. Drought and the capacity to live with it remain a fundamental challenge. The story so far makes this conclusion inescapable. It follows that diversified livelihoods are essential for people in rural communities, since all types of agricultural activity are vulnerable to the weather and to pests. This adverse reality points up the continuing necessity for investment in infrastructure Marcelo Valle 1 This part of the document also incorporates comments from participants at the third COEP National Forum on Capacity- Building, held in Moreno, Pernambuco, Sept , COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 213

5 214 CO LE Ç ÃO CO EP CIDA DA N I A EM RED E A B R I L During the September 2009 Forum, representatives of communities in the state of Rio Grande do Norte highlighted the need for cisterns. Beyond the practical problem of water storage, they face an administrative challenge: living outside the recognized boundaries of the Semi-árido, they find it more difficult to obtain public subsidies for cisterns. such as in-ground dams, cisterns, and wells, but also in small-stock schemes such as the successful project to upgrade herds of sheep and goats. The achievements and potential in these initiatives are real enough, but community members cited limitations as well. The value of cisterns in assuring potable water throughout the year shows itself, for example, in better health and nutrition for the families that have them. These practical achievements also show the importance of institutional assets, notably COEP s ability to forge productive partnerships with organizations such as ASA. The challenge remains to extend the network of cisterns to include those families who do not yet have them. 2 In a similar vein, communities were initially slow to take up the opportunity offered by in-ground dams; the task now is to assemble resources to meet surging demand. The greater participation of young people in community affairs especially via the Comitês mobilizadores has changed the profile of drought and climate within the communities. Convivência com a seca remains a touchstone of life in the Semi-árido, but is acquiring new content. Young men and women are demanding, and proposing, community action on a whole range of environmental issues such as deforestation and reforestation, reduction, cleanup and composting of waste, combating and repairing erosion of riverbanks and lakeshores, rehabilitating polluted water sources and reducing future pollution, reducing and even ending the use of agrotóxicos (chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides), and improving public and private sanitation. The September 2009 Forum on Capacity-Building in Pernambuco was notable for the high proportion of young people participating they accounted for almost half of the community representatives and they generated a long list of recommended actions for COEP, its partners, and their community associations. Their prominence, and their enthusiastic accounts of real progress on many issues, were balanced by their repeated assertions that much more remains to be done that deforestation continues, as does erosion of riverbanks and pollution of water sources; that soils are degraded; that solid waste remains far too common in the streets and fields of their communities. COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 214

6 PA RT Marcelo Valle Against the background of these issues and measures, non-agricultural production takes on additional importance. The communities can show both successes and potential in this area weaving with mechanical and manual looms, for example, artisanal jewelry, or the beginnings of agro-tourism. At the same time, these successes highlight complex and necessary support requirements for timely and relevant training and technical support, access to credit and advice on marketing, and so on. COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 215

7 216 CO LE Ç ÃO CO EP CIDA DA N I A EM RED E A B R I L The initiative to revitalize cotton production by small producers seems successfully rooted, and many communities spoke of their desire to expand production. Just maintaining existing levels of production will require a continuing commitment by EMBRAPA, for example, to ensure adequate technical support to all communities in the Programa, either directly or in concert with COEP s development agents. The presence of the development agents is a major asset for the communities, and certainly facilitates the relationship with EMBRAPA. Nevertheless, ensuring adequate technical support to nearly 50 communities across the wide geographic spread of the Programa will be a major challenge. The recent introduction of organic and naturally coloured cotton crystallizes the issue. Coloured organic cotton holds real promise but that promise underlines the importance of an institutional commitment as well. The continuing vulnerability to drought, pests and disease vulnerability of both cotton and the farm families that grow it underscores the necessity for effective technical support and the timely provision of seeds and credit. Even acknowledging the gains they had made better yields, higher prices, greater family income farmers pointed to continuing difficulties in securing adequate credit, technical support, seeds, and delivery to market. 3 The example of cotton and EMBRAPA highlights the next issue, the broader question of institutional commitment by COEP s partner entities, and the overall framework of public policy within which the Programa operates. 3 The same considerations hold true for the production and marketing of mamona, perhaps even more so. The producing communities in Piauí tend to be further from market than their brothers and sisters producing cotton, and many farmers feel that the price for mamona is far too low. 3. Progressive public policies and funding practices have been critically important to the successes achieved so far. Can these be maintained, even extended? At stake here are two types of public policies: those general policies which apply to all Brazilians; and those which are specific to the people and institutions of the Northeast. An example of obvious importance of the former is the Bolsa Família, received by as many as 80% of the families in the communities we visited (by their own estimates). The Bolsa provides a modest but regular and hence COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 216

8 PA RT crucial flow of monthly income to augment the uncertain fortunes of revenue from the sale of crops and livestock. Other examples of national policies include the mandates of the Ministry of Communications and of the Ministry of Science and Technology to spread ICTs throughout Brazil, mandates which have brought real benefits to the people of the Semi-árido. As the account in Part III shows, COEP enabled these ministries to deliver on their mandates. The Programa provided a vehicle which allowed both federal departments to channel public resources to rural and often remote communities, resources which have helped to transform the lives of the families of those communities. Marcelo Valle COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 217

9 218 CO LE Ç ÃO CO EP CIDA DA N I A EM RED E A B R I L 2011 In the more regionally focused policy and practice of public agencies, COEP has also played an essential part. In its role as advocate and connector, COEP has encouraged entities such as Chesf and Eletrobras to commit resources to the Programa. COEP has also worked assiduously with the Ministry of Science and Technology (through its agencies FINEP and CNPq) to apply its support to the diverse components of the Programa (summarized in Fig. 11 of Part I, pp ) Indeed, FINEP s funding has been of primary importance to the Programa and its communities. Its readiness to support a promising but unproven initiative, and its ability to do so in a sustained, flexible and responsive manner makes its record here a model of good practice by a development agency. This exemplary precedent is in turn a challenge for FINEP: the Programa is a long-term undertaking, not a project with finite time horizons and time-bound objectives, and the challenge for any funder will be to maintain an organic and adaptive stance, responding to changing circumstances and priorities in the communities. COEP s status as trusted intermediary is obviously an asset for all the participants its funding partners, itself as the managing body, and the communities making practical use of the resources on the ground but the importance of the funders institutional commitment and their sensible and sensitive use of financial procedures cannot be overstated. Similarly, COEP s success in mobilizing a network of public universities has been vital to the broadening of the Programa beyond the original focus on cotton. The Citizen Universities project is nearing its end, and is currently being assessed within the broader evaluation of the Programa, conducted by faculty members of UFRPE. A renewed, perhaps redesigned, undertaking seems essential, but will require a commitment from people within the universities and from a sympathetic funder such as CNPq, which supported the first phase of this work. COEP s role as advocate and connector has worked in part because the network has found, encouraged and responded to sympathetic leaders within these different entities. In this respect, COEP s role typifies both the possibilities COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 218

10 PA RT and limitations of the power of a non-governmental body: it works best as an influencer when it finds or creates a sympathetic ear in the higher reaches of a public body. The challenge for the future is to renew the special mix of individual interest and institutional resources which has sustained the Programa to date, an effective supply line responding to demand and negotiation from COEP and the communities. This issue also underscores the importance of COEP and its partners continuing their work of education and bridge-building to promote community access to public policies and services. The 2007 Forum in Brasília (described in Part III, pp ) is the most high-profile example of activity of this kind, but in more local and low-profile settings, communities have also learned and used skills of advocacy and negotiation with municipal authorities. Their voice in the future will be that much more effective if they succeed in creating a joint public voice, both in the different polos and even more, as members of a network across the entire Northeast. Lastly, we should recall that through all our discussion of public policy and institutional practice there runs a common thread of the critical part played by sympathetic, imaginative and committed individuals. Vital as their contribution has been, its continuation cannot be assured people do retire, after all and the importance of personal commitment and relationships in this story if anything underscores the necessity for consolidating institutional to the Programa and the communities of the Semi-árido. 4. Effective education and training will continue to be an essential part of the whole process. Communities brought two examples of this issue to our attention: Powered and manual looms can generate work and income through weaving projects, for example but only if the necessary technical training is in place to enable productive use and maintenance of the equipment. (The successful initiative in this field by one community, Quixabeira in Alagoas state, could be an example for others.) COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 219

11 220 CO LE Ç ÃO CO EP CIDA DA N I A EM RED E A B R I L 2011 Marcelo Valle telecentros have already brought a dramatic change to families and to entire communities. If all generations are to take part in this change, however, literacy among adults will have to be improved. More widespread literacy would help more adults to use the computers, and to gain familiarity and reach a comfort level with this technology. Reaching that plateau, however, may serve to highlight another issue. The evaluation conducted by Prof. Soares and his colleagues at UFRPE suggests that the potential COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 220

12 PA RT of the telecentros as a source of knowledge and a tool for communication is far from being fully realized. The momentous cultural change symbolized and provoked by the telecentros is now under way for only a few short years, however; one challenge for the next cycle of the Programa will be to show more clearly both the nature of that potential and the ways of realizing it. For that to happen, however, COEP and the communities will have to address a practical problem in the economics of a small community-based enterprise, the challenge of covering the cost of depreciating assets. 5. The task of renewing capital equipment will become urgent within the next year or two, especially as computers and related hardware in the telecentros require replacement. There are options here, notably in existing national programs to promote digital literacy, but both communities and COEP and its partners will need to approach this work early and systematically. Our conversations with community members highlighted two important sub-issues, in effect social aspects of the depreciation of equipment. First, user fees or contributions might seem to be an obvious way of covering the costs of repairing and renewing computers and related equipment. User fees would immediately compromise the near-universal community access to the telecentros, however. (As mentioned in Part III, virtually all families in the communities we visited had one or more members using the computers in the telecentros.) If this access is to be protected, the communities will have to devise a means of pooling resources to preserve universal access to the telecentros, while meeting the costs of depreciation. The difficulty of working out a solution should not be under-estimated. Already, some communities are finding it difficult to mobilize and apply resources within the community, so that all may benefit. The issue at hand is that of monitoring and regulating use of the telecentros. Currently, communities formulate their own rules of access and behaviour for users of the COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 221

13 222 CO LE Ç ÃO CO EP CIDA DA N I A EM RED E A B R I L 2011 telecentros, and have created a corps of volunteers to monitor usage and compliance. The recurring challenge is to recruit enough monitors to ensure a well-distributed and reasonable workload. If a community cannot recruit enough monitors, access to the telecentros will become more restricted, and the equipment itself may be at risk. The same issue plays out in agricultural production. The user fees currently charged to farmers for processing their cotton crop at the mini-factories may cover maintenance costs now and in the medium term, but will not be enough to meet depreciation and replacement requirements over, say, a generation. The comparative durability of the mini-factories affords the communities a longer timeframe for addressing this issue, but the challenge is essentially the same as that of the computers, and has to be addressed. 6. There are inescapable questions of management strategy for the Programa as a whole. First, the common tension between consolidation and expansion is very much present in the Programa. There have already been two major waves of expansion since , as the initiative has grown from 6 to 24 and now 46 communities. All the communities we visited, however, would seem to require further investment to consolidate what now exists, in all four strategies of the Programa. This challenge of consolidating seems to argue against further expansion of the number of participating communities, however, at least for a few years. The huge geographic spread of the Programa as it now exists as noted above, an issue in the provision of technical support for cotton production is a further complicating factor. The task of engaging such a dispersed network-in-the making is such as to make a compelling a priori argument for consolidating the Programa. The demanding requirements of effective institutional and practical support, noted in points (2), (3) and (4) above, combine to reinforce the imperative of consolidation. That said, there remains some pressure to expand the Programa. One of the strongest supporters of the initiative, Sr. Sergio Rezende, the Minister of COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 222

14 PA RT Science and Technology, has repeatedly given COEP a friendly challenge to increase the number of participating communities to at least one hundred. Speaking at the Second National Forum in May 2008, he said: It gives me great satisfaction to see that the Project is growing but I say to Andre Spitz that we need to reach hundreds of communities. One of the difficulties in this is that they are distant from one another. Some communities, which could organize themselves, are 50, 100 kilometres distant from each other and can t see what is happening. When the Programa really reaches all the Semi-árido, the region will be totally different. 4 On the ground, there is certainly evidence of demand for expansion. Some neighbours of participating communities are literally voting with their feet to expand the current polos, regularly taking advantage of the mini-factories to process their cotton crop, using the telecentros, and even seeking to affiliate with existing community associations. Secondly, the overall management of the Programa merits revisiting. COEP has played a vital role to date, both as a catalyzer and connector, promoting partnerships and co-operation among the different public and parastatal technical and financial support agencies, many of which are COEP members; and also as manager of the entire undertaking, coordinating and reporting on multiple revenue streams. The financial scale of this enterprise is significant. Total project and program budgets and annual expenditures have been noted in Part I: COEP alone has Programa to date. To this figure must be added other resources, not all of them readily quantified: the Citizen Universities network. the broadband satellite feed to the telecentros. 4 Cited in COEP, Programa Comunidades Semi-árido: Construindo caminhos para a cidadania no Nordeste do Brasil, p. 47. (Author s translation.) COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 223

15 224 CO LE Ç ÃO CO EP CIDA DA N I A EM RED E A B R I L 2011 tions. An important example is the provision of transport to community members to participate in meetings and exchanges. Programa have contributed valuable labour and knowledge to it, resources that are no less considerable for not being monetized. Any estimate would have to include the time spent by professionals such as those members of COEP s management team whose Vandeílson Pedro COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 224

16 PA RT salaries have been paid by their employers, such as Furnas or EMBRAPA. Within the communities, individuals have run the affairs of associations and the Comitês on a pro bono basis. The labour and experience of farm families, invested in the daily and seasonal tasks of raising, harvesting and marketing crops and livestock, realizes a direct return in their income and food, and the maintenance and improvement of their farms and houses. The management of this sprawling and diverse undertaking by a non-governmental body is remarkable enough, but COEP is a mobilizing network, and its agreed and recognized role is not that of an operational or administrative/ management entity such as an NGO or a parastatal. Effective as its performance has been, its management role has been an exception to its organizational métier. It lacks, moreover, the organizational infrastructure to continue its management function. Having established the Programa as an effective initiative, it would thus seem reasonable for the network to hand over its management and resourcing to the public authorities. 5 An obvious corollary would be to move the site of the management body to the Northeast. Even if such changes take place, however, COEP s functions of catalyzing and connecting will remain essential to preserve coherence in a program that crosses many institutional and jurisdictional boundaries. If COEP does not continue in its current management role, the network could focus its experience and credibility on the work of catalyzing and connecting. COEP s development agents, thirdly, are a key part of the Programa. They provide technical advice, solidarity and encouragement to the communities, and help communities and partner organizations to connect to each other. The agents in turn require continued support to do their work transportation is especially important, for example, if they are to work regularly and promptly with dispersed communities. The team of development agents is critical to effective operational management of the Programa all the more so if the initiative expands as Minister Rezende has argued and will remain so however the overall management function may evolve. 5 This was the pattern followed with PRONINC, the national co-operative incubator program which COEP initiated in the mid-1990s. COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 225

17 226 CO LE Ç ÃO CO EP CIDA DA N I A EM RED E A B R I L Who will lead the Programa? Until now, the guiding and motive energy of the Programa as an ensemble has been largely within COEP. Can the communities themselves take on more leadership in its next phase(s), especially if COEP s current management role changes? COEP has always worked with the assumption that the communities could form themselves into a network or an association if they chose to do so. The investment in regular gatherings and exchanges, at the level of both the polos and the Programa as a whole, reflects that intent. At the same time, COEP has not pushed the communities in this direction, recognizing that the communities are diverse and far-flung, and that their members face daunting challenges just to make their livelihoods, without the extra demands of contributing to a network or an association. Nevertheless, it is clear from this inquiry that people in the communities have welcomed the opportunity to meet one another both face to face and electronically, to exchange ideas, experiences and knowledge. In the process they have begun to work together on practical matters, and to see common interests and issues, if not yet to construct a common identity or agenda. It is also clear that a new generation of leaders is beginning to emerge among young people and women within the communities, participating regularly in their Comitês, but also within their polos and in larger settings such as the Capacity-Building Forums. The challenge for all involved, but especially for COEP and its operational partners such as the university teams, is to acknowledge and encourage these changes to nurture the practical benefits of exchange and mutual learning, as well as the energy that comes from new leaders and growing participation, while avoiding the imposition of undue organizational demands. The last word belongs to Sr Pedro Rodrigues, a farmer from the community of José Rodrigues Sobrinho, in Nova Cruz in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. He spoke his poem to a gathering of his friends from all the communities in the Programa, at the Third National Forum held near outside Recife in September 2009: COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 226

18 PA RT Algodão o ouro branco Do nordeste brasileiro. Para quem plantasse algodão Nunca faltava dinheiro. Cotton, the white gold Of the Brazilian Northeast. For whoever plants cotton Never lacks money. Do agreste ao sertão Pobre não planta nem cria Só faz derramar suor A troco de mixaria Com qualquer coisa se engana. Ou então vai cortar cana Trabalhar de bóia fria. From the agreste to the sertão The poor do not plant nor do they raise stock; Only shed their sweat In exchange for a pittance With which they delude themselves. Or they go and cut cane, Daily workers eating cold food. Se o nordestino quiser ter boa condição, Homem, menino e mulher, De agreste ao sertão, Vamos continuar a plantar Do algodão. If the Nordestino wants to have a good life, Man, woman and child, From the agreste to the sertão, Let us continue to plant The cotton. COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 227

19 COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 228

20 Marcelo Valle Annexes COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 229

21 Annex I: Communities Participating in the Programa, September 2009 Communities visited for this research in September and December 2008 are highlighted in orange. COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 230

22 A N N EX E S 2 31 STATE/POLO Nº Municipality Community Date of Entry AL 1 Água Branca Quixabeira Mata Grande Cacimba Cercada Pariconha Campinhos 2006 CE 4 Aurora Espinheiros Barro Engenho Velho Mauritis Anauá Milagres Oitis Missão Velha Olho D Água 2007 PB (sertão) 9 Bonito de Santa Fé Pereiros Cachoeira dos Índios Redondo Cajazeiras Barreiros Monte Horebe Batalha 2007 PB (agreste) 13 São José de Piranhas Lagoa de Dentro Alagoa Grande Pedra de Santo Antônio Aroeiras Novo Pedro Velho Gurinhém Uruçu Juarez Távora Ass. Margarida Maria Alves Remígio Queimadas 2007 COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 231

23 232 CO LE Ç ÃO CO EP CIDA DA N I A EM RED E A B R I L 2011 PE 19 Cumaru Pilões Cumaru Pedra Branca Frei Miguelinho Algodão do Manso Surubim Furnas Vertentes São João do Ferraz 2006 PI 24 Anísio de Abreu Cacimba Fartura do Piauí Baixa do Morro Jurema Boa Vista São Braz do Piauí Solidão São Raimundo Nonato Quixó Várzea Branca Pão de Açucar Paulistana Barro Vermelho Paulistana Itaizinho 2008 RN 32 Goianinha Limoal Lagoa de Pedra Mandacaru Nova Cruz Ass. José Rodrigues Sobrinho Santo Antônio Tanques Serrinha Jacumirim Ceará-mirim Agrovilla Canudos 2008 COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 232

24 A N N EX E S João Câmara Modelo I João Câmara Modelo II Pureza Bebida Velha Touros Assentamento Aracati Vera Cruz Araçá II Lagoa Salgada Recanto II 2008 SE 44 Canindé de São Francisco Cuiabá Nossa Senhora da Glória Assentamento José Ribamar Poço Redondo Fazenda Pioneira 2007 COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 233

25 Annex II: References Documents and Websites Cited: Arias, Alfonso, Conhecendo as comunidades: indicadores sócio-econômicos das comunidades do projeto. In Carmona et al., A Reintrodução da cultura do algodão, Articulação Semi-árido Brasileiro. accessed June 15, Carmona, Marcos, Napoleão Esberard de Macedo Beltrão, José Mendes de Araújo, Francisco Pereira Cordão Sobrinho, e Alfonso Arias, A reintrodução da cultura do algodão no semi-árido do Brasil através do fortalecimento da agricultura familiar: um resultado prático da atuação do COEP. Cadernos da Oficina Social #13, Rio de Janeiro: Oficina Social. COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 234

26 A N N EX E S 2 35 Cavalcante, José Julio, Robério Ferreira dos Santos, e Cláudio Lysias Gaya Duarte, Banco de Dados de Algodão. EMBRAPA Algodão, Campina Grande, PB, 18 do Abril. COEP, Programa Comunidades Semiárido: Construindo caminhos para a cidadania no Nordeste do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Coleção COEP/Cidadania em Rede, Setembro. COEP, 2008a. Panorama 2008 do Programa Comunidades Semiárido. Rio de Janeiro, Dezembro. COEP, 2008b. Sistematização da Avaliação do Fórum. Rio de Janeiro: Power- Point, Maio. COEP, 2008c. Segundo Fórum do Programa Comunidades Semi-árido, Ilha de Itamaracá PE, Maio de 2008: Memória do evento. Rio de Janeiro, Maio. COEP, 2007a. Protocolo de cooperação, versão final. Rio de Janeiro: Novembro. COEP, 2007b. Políticas Públicas e o Programa Comunidades COEP Semi-árido: Memória do evento, Brasília/DF, Setembro de Rio de Janeiro. COEP, 2007c. PPAN Relatório para FINEP. Rio de Janeiro: Julho. COEP, 2007d. PDCI Relatório para FINEP. Rio de Janeiro: Julho. COEP, 2007e. Projeto Comunidades do Milênio. Rio de Janeiro, Power- Point, Fevereiro. COEP, 2006a. Primeiro Fórum de Capacitação das Comunidades COEP no Semi-árido. Rio de Janeiro, Março. COEP-v3_livro-miolo_ indd 235