BRASILIA – IDB Lab, the innovation arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, today launched two initiatives to promote biobusinesses in the Amazon region as part of the Amazonia Forever program.
The partnerships were announced during the Brasil Investment Forum, an event promoted by the Brazilian Government with IDB support to showcase investment opportunities in Brazil. The Amazon was one of the topics discussed among the panels.
In partnership with Conexsus and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the first initiative aims to increase revenues for community-based biobusinesses in the PanAmazon region (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Bolivia and Suriname) and generate income opportunities for families engaged in these businesses. This is achieved through the creation of networks, capacity building efforts and the development of innovative financial, technological, and commercial solutions.
This alternative model is referred to as the Amazonian sociobioeconomy, which promotes sustainable forest- and biodiversity-based value chains that prioritize biodiversity-friendly practices such as traditional use, agroforestry, and small-scale farming. These activities are undertaken by smallholder farmers, traditional and indigenous communities, often organized in community-based businesses, with an emphasis on recognizing traditional knowledge and collective benefits-sharing. The investments total $7.2 million.
Another initiative in the Brazilian Amazon, in partnership with Impact Hub Manaus, the Amazon Bioeconomy and Forest Management Multidonor Fund, and investments of $1.6 million, will strengthen local bioeconomy SMEs through the creation of Bioeconomy Ecosystem Hubs in the Legal Amazon Region. These hubs will include trainings, networks to connect local actors and stakeholders, investment, and scalability mechanisms.
"Incorporating the knowledge of local communities and promoting biobusinesses are essential to advance sustainable development in the Amazon. With these two initiatives, IDB Lab continues to mobilize financing, knowledge, and connections to generate more and better opportunities for the Amazon traditional populations and entrepreneurs, who are key players in preserving the biodiversity that underpins the future of this region," said Irene Arias, CEO of IDB Lab.
Barbara Brakarz, Conexsus executive director, highlighted that Conexsus is excited to partner with IDB Lab and GCF to scale its sociobioeconomy work in Brazil into a Pan-Amazon program. “The challenges the region faces are immense. We believe that sustainable community businesses are a key element in building an inclusive bioeconomy that produces social, environmental and economic benefits for the local populations across the different countries and can greatly contribute to giving a true value to the forest," she said.
The co-founder of Impact Hub Manaus, Marcus Bessa, emphasized that "Our purpose with the Bioeconomy Ecosystem Hubs is to leverage businesses that bring impact to the Legal Amazon, working on the potential of each territory and having the IDB Lab with us will be fundamental for us to create structuring actions that, after the completion of the program, generate autonomy for the populations involved."
The IDB Group is committed to channel investments to the Amazon, and it is doing so by leveraging international investments. Both projects have core mobilization resources, from the Green Climate Fund and Amazon Multi-Donor Fund of the IDB, supported by the governments of Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Amazonia Forever
Amazonia Forever is a holistic umbrella program that aims to protect biodiversity and accelerate sustainable development on three fronts: expanding funding, boosting the exchange of knowledge, and facilitating regional coordination between the eight Amazonian countries.
The program is based on five pillars: combating deforestation and strengthening environmental control and security in the context of national governments; the bioeconomy, boosting alternative and sustainable economic activities; people, aiming for adequate access to quality education, health and employment; sustainable cities and infrastructure and connectivity; and sustainable and low-carbon agriculture, livestock and forestry. In addition, it focuses on promoting the inclusion of women, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants and local communities; climate and forest conservation; and strengthening institutional capacities and the rule of law.
About IDB Lab
IDB Lab is the innovation laboratory of the IDB Group, the leading source of development finance and know-how for improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The purpose of IDB Lab is to drive innovation for inclusion in the region by mobilizing financing, knowledge, and connections to test early-stage solutions with the potential to transform the lives of vulnerable populations affected by economic, social, and/or environmental factors. Since 1993 IDB Lab has approved more than $2 billion in projects deployed across 26 LAC countries. www.idblab.org
About the IDB
The Inter-American Development Bank is devoted to improving lives. Established in 1959, the IDB is a leading source of long-term financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research and provides policy advice, technical assistance and training to public- and private-sector clients throughout the region. Take our virtual tour.
Borges De Padua Goulart,Janaina
Manzano Guillen,Maria De Gador
Amazonia Forever
A holistic umbrella program for the sustainable development of the region, which aims to work together on forest and climate conservation and to improve people's quality of lives, offering economic alternatives.
Brazil Investment Forum
The Brasil Investment Forum 2023 (BIF 23) will be the 6th edition of the largest foreign investment event in Latin America. Organized by ApexBrasil, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Federal Government, it will take place on November 7 and 8, 2023.