Tackling hunger and poverty in Brazil – this is the goal that Bayer CropScience and the Brazilian non-governmental organization Agência Mandalla are pursuing with their Mandala Project. The two partners have been collaborating since 2004 to give farmers in the arid regions of northeastern Brazil a source or income and a means of existence.
The idea of the Mandala Project is as simple as it is effective: An irrigation system laid out in concentric circles allows water, which is scarce in these parts, to be used efficiently and sustainably. This enables farmers to cultivate the soil and feed their families by growing fruit and vegetables. By gradually increasing productivity and rearing animals they will then in a second step produce surplus that they can sell on local markets. Impecunious farmers are thus turned into minor entrepreneurs.
To bridge the gap until they are able to harvest the first crops, the farmers receive a grant from Bayer. Alongside funding, the company also makes available technical equipment and the expertise of its employees. The farmers are also supported by special cooperatives that sell surplus produce. Since the start of the Mandala Project help has been given to more than 1,500 farmers and their families, providing them with a fixed source of income.
This long-term project is, however, not the first initiative Bayer has launched to fight hunger and poverty in the nutritionally disadvantaged northeastern part of the country. In 2003 Bayer employees distributed relief supplies – 3.2 million Aspirin tablets and 186,000 water purification tablets – in 51 communities at the government’s request. For many of the 700,000 residents in arid northeastern Brazil, these aqua tablets were the only opportunity to access potable water.