
Community banking for the river-dwellers: another first delivered by the Amazon Charitable Trust
June 08 2021
We are launching a new project to bring immediate assistance, to workers of the CoopXixuaú and their families, by implementing financial subsidies in the form of a loan accessible to any members of the local Cooperative (men and women) of the Extractive Reserve (RESEX) of the Lower Rio Branco Jauaperi, without any conditions and with no interest.
The Cooperative of Xixuaú (CoopXixuaú) will give access to loans within the RESEX that would generally be out of reach for the river-dwellers. To address this gap, we worked with our partners to provide a financial contract designed to fit the conditions of the workers of the CoopXixuaú and basic financial education. Each worker will be eligible to receive up to R$900 (180 USD), for this pilot phase, to give financial relief to families struggling to afford basic needs.
Now, with the pandemic still roaming around, the area is suffering from the worst floods since records began. The need to develop, with our partners, different projects to provide work and alternative incomes to the families of the reserve has never been more urgent.
As many of you know (and generously contributed to) we took immediate action last year to deliver food on four separate occasions. And, now after this food insecurity over the last year, we have houses flooded, power cuts and family plots - designed to alleviate the food problem - completely submerged.
Due to high amounts of rain in the previous months, the flood is confirming a tendency of an increase of extreme climatic events in the Amazon region from flooding to drought. Once again, the most vulnerable communities are the most exposed to climate change.
The Amazon Charitable Trust has been working with the local communities to design methodology and tools to increase the resilience towards those events. A drone monitoring programme is ongoing with the University of Southampton, the University of Bath, and the Federal University of the Rural Amazon. We hope to organise test and field training as soon as possible.
Finally, we are working with the CoopXixuaú and our partners to offer an online tourism experience from this summer to connect with the community while travel is still on hold.
Stay tuned!