Published by City Farmer, Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture

Urban Agriculture Program Botucatu City, São Paulo, Brazil

Thank you to Camila Horiye for supplying and translating the information on this page. See the slideshow link below.
canafloresta@yahoo.com.br

Slideshow about Botucatu City Urban Agriculture Program

What is the Urban Agriculture Program?

It's a partnership between the Social Assistance Office and the Agriculture Office both of them municipal. The goal is to improve the lives of the poor people by allowing their social inclusion, along with making better use of non-utilized urban areas. Within this program, the main focus shall be the Community Vegetable Garden Sites whose purpose is to bring food and income security to these excluded people and also to provide, as a consequence, a sustainable livelihood.

Food Security and Agroecology

Food security means that everyone, at any time, can have access to nutritious food, which is safe - the quantity, quality and variety will guarantee an active and healthy life. The country will have Food Security when all of the population has safe food for consumption, with no danger to the consumer's health, such as chemical or biological contamination. Agroecology presents the ecological view. Its principles strengthen the relationship between the countryside and the city by improving social-economy, food distribution and consumption. It can contribute to human health and improve food security and sustainable nutrition at a local level.

The Program

Actually, the program serves 11 commercial market gardens, 3 school market gardens, 3 social projects and 2 market gardens in health facilities. It involves 50 families directly. The production process is organic, with an agroecological focus; avoiding contamination of soil, water, farmers and consumers. Furthermore, it helps to raise the local biodiversity while increasing the families' income by aggregating value of products by opening a public market.

Consuming organic products is preferred. They are tastier and more nutritious.

Consumer Awareness Tips

1) Local products:
- To support local farmers;
- Decrease the freight; consequently decreases the final costs and the pollution.
2) Products don't cause environmental degradation:
- They doesn't contaminate the soil and the water during the production process;
- To use more recycled packages and less regular ones.
3) Products good for your health:
- Without toxic products;
- More nutritious.
4) Social product:
- Includes the lower income population;
- Avoid the children's exploitation;
- Respects the worker relationships;
- The protagonists are the farmers;
- Accessibility and fair price.

How Can I get involved?

The Urban Agriculture Program works with the urban community to provide technical assistance, seeds, tools, seedlings, organic fertilizer; to support sales to alternative markets and to help with community organization. People who are involved in this project have lower incomes and are socially excluded. Through the project, they organize community groups that work on the land in order to achieve a social-economic development.

If you have any questions or if you want to participate or help, please do not hesitate to contact us! All help is welcome!

Urban Agriculture Program Ð information
Agriculture Office - 011 55 14 3882 9959
Social Assistance Office - 011 55 14 3882 7616
Rua Miguel Cioffi, 325 - CEP 18607-693
Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil
Site: www.botucatu.sp.gov.br
e-mail: agricultura@botucatu.sp.gov.br
Contact: Fernando Silveira Franco

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