​​Green Tent Circle
​Action Highlights

The Projeto Artes e Sabores da Terra
Women from the community of Cachoeirinha
in the Municipality of Wagner, BA
​in the Chapada Diamantina Region.
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​  The Projeto Artes e Sabores da Terra is aimed mainly at women from the community of Cachoeirinha in the Municipality of Wagner, BA, in the Chapada Diamantina region. Cachoeirinha is a centenary community 12 km away from the Wagner municipality.
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The main objective is the reuse of banana trees, an abundant raw material in our region that is discarded. We use everything from the banana tree: the stem, the fruits and the leaves. Through this activity we seek to generate income for women and their families. Banana plantations constitute our Green Tents, as it is where we carry out the activities of harvesting and using the products: it is our place of welcome and participatory work.
The main objective is the reuse of banana trees, an abundant raw material in our region that is discarded. We use everything from the banana tree: the stem, the fruits and the leaves. Through this activity we seek to generate income for women and their families.
 With parts of the banana tree, we prepare different things:
  1. ​with the ripe banana fruit, we make sweet banana paste,
    sweet syrup, nego bom, jellies, breads, cakes, pudding
  2. in its green state we make banana flour, biomass and brigadeiro
  3. with the banana flower, called Mangará, we make fillings
    ​for pastries and pies
  4. from the trunk of the banana tree, we remove each layer,
    which receives a name: file, against filet, lace cape, lace
    ​and silk
  5. and from the leaves we produce by hand: flowers, bags,
    ​jewelry, baskets, decorative objects, among others
Our work can only be performed on the waning moon, when we can achieve a better drying process.
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29 women participate in the project, benefiting 35 families. 32 children from the community are also involved. These women, working with the banana tree, also receive training in areas such as Electricity and Masonry, and others. They are rural workers, who live from subsistence agriculture, or from outsourced work on the coffee plantations in the region. They work in the fields, in the house and in banana crafts, as they see the possibility of improving their income in the latter. At the same time, their children participate in Horticulture, biscuit and other activities workshops, through a partnership built with the school and the community.

And all the food produced, both in the workshops and in the work of the women in the Banana Tents, is distributed among the participants.
What stands out in the work of Artes e Sabores da Terra is the involvement of women and the community, in a totally sustainable way, since everything is done through work and raw material existing in the region. Our main objective is to generate opportunities not only for those directly involved in the project, but for the entire community.
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Handcrafted Items made from Banana Tree Fiber.