2nd December 2024
Unlike other nuts that come from major plantations, Brazil Nuts can only be found in the wild.
The saying “one apple a day keeps the doctor away” applies just as well to Brazil Nuts, our next highlight in the series Harvest Chronicles. Packed with minerals and vitamins, this very special edible nut doesn’t come from farms, but they are collected deep in the canopy of the Amazon Rainforest for six months of the year, from December to April.
Now is the season when Indigenous People and other local inhabitants venture into the dark and humid tree shades to find in the forest floor softball-sized brown fruit containing at least 20 enclosed nuts weighing up to 3 kg.
Each tree drops 300 pods every season and when it falls from the tallest trees of the Amazon, measuring 165 feet tall, you wouldn’t want to be on their way. Potential for traumatic brain injuries or even death can be the consequences of being hit by a pod falling from Bertholletia excelsa, a tree endemic to the Amazon that can live up to 500 years.
Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP)
If you intend to support directly the preservation of the Amazon, perhaps buying Brazil nuts might well be your simplest strategy. Being one of the world’s most widely consumed non-timber forest products (NTFP), this nut is one of the globally traded commodities that helps to save threatened forests because its harvesting doesn’t involve deforestation.
The Brazil nuts market size reached USD 1.17 Billion in 2023. According to the IMARC Group, this market is expected to reach USD 2.08 Billion by 2032, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 6.20% during 2024-2032. Bolivia, Peru and Brazil are the main producers and exporters, with 2023 exports valued at USD 243 Million.
In 2023, Germany, the USA, the UK, the Netherlands and France were the five top importers, collectively purchasing 54.6% of global acquisitions of Brazil nuts by dollar value.
Madre di Dios, Peru
Located in the southern Peruvian Amazon, Madre de Dios is considered Peru’s richest region in terms of biodiversity. It hosts large tracts of intact forest with some of the world’s highest levels of terrestrial species endemism and diversity, significant carbon stocks, and notable cultural diversity including over 10 Indigenous ethnic groups, some in voluntary isolation.
It is also an important centre of Brazil nut harvesting, processing and enterprise. In 2023, a total of 5,500 metric tons of shelled Brazil nuts were exported from Peru, corresponding to nearly USD 30 Million in sales. Nowadays, between 15 and 20 thousand people, or 12.5% of the population of the Madre de Dios region, are directly employed in the Brazil nut industry.
Amazonia Impact Ventures (AIV) supports two cooperatives of Brazil Nut’s collectors: RONAP and AFIMAD, consisting of 280 producers who forge on more than 115,000 hectares of untouched rainforest. AIV has invested in their enterprises a total of USD 770K in four rounds of repeated loans between 2021 and 2024.
For many involved, Brazil Nut activity accounts for over half of family income. Notably, nearly a third of the concession holders are women, who also comprise a significant portion of the processing industry workforce. Hundreds of Indigenous community members harvest Brazil nuts from communally owned forests.
Volatile prices of Brazil Nuts influence the producers' incomes: an average harvester could earn between $900 and $2000 per year according to the international price. With AIV’s support empowering producers’ organisations, it is anticipated that better prices will be negotiated, uplifting beneficiary incomes, and increasing market access.
Health benefits
Brazil Nuts are a nutritional powerhouse, providing healthy fats, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. They’re exceptionally high in selenium, a potent antioxidant beneficial for thyroid, brain, and heart health.
The nut can be consumed in various ways: plain as a quick snack or accompanied with Medjool dates for a sweet, protein-packed combo; or chopped with dried figs, dates, cocoa, coconut flakes, and cinnamon to create nutritious energy balls.
Selling for double the price of the nut, the oil can be often used in skin and hair care products and it is very valuable to treat dehydrated and damaged hair, as well as damages from sun, age spots and melasma in the skin. Brazil Nut oil can also be used to treat conditions like psoriasis and eczema.
#BrazilNut #HealthIndustry #ConservationAmazon #HarvestChronicles #ProductsWeSupport #Livelihoods #Castanas #CommunityHarvester #Peru #Bolivia #Brazil #MadreDiDios
Comments