Solar Energy Saves Dairy Cooperative in Brazil’s Semi-Arid Region

The headquarters of the Capribom agro-industrial cooperative with its roofs covered with photovoltaic panels, in Monteiro, northeastern Brazil. Credit: Courtesy of Capribom

By Carlos Müller
MONTEIRO, Brazil, Nov 1 2024 (IPS)

“Ixe! If it wasn’t for solar energy, we would have closed down, you can be sure. We had to stop due to the pandemic on 15 March 2020, but the energy costs were fixed,” said Erika Cazuza, administrative and financial manager of the Brazilian Cooperative of Rural Producers of Monteiro (Capribom).

Ixe is a word used in the Northeast region of Brazil, which means Virgin and reflects its deep-rooted religious culture.“The solar system caused a 90% reduction in energy costs, which guaranteed operations, even during the pandemic”: Fabricio de Souza Ferreira.

Monteiro, with just over 33,000 people, is a municipality in the driest part of the semi-arid ecoregion, with an area of 1.03 million square kilometres covering several states in the Northeast and a population of 27 million, where rainfall averages only about 600 millimetres per year.

The semi-arid region is also affected by severe droughts that can last for several years, as happened in 2012-2017 in most of the ecoregion. Located on a plateau, at an altitude of 600 metres, Monteiro has a pleasant climate in its 992 square kilometres.

Thanks largely to Capribom, Monteiro, where extensive livestock farming has been the main economic activity since the 18th century, has gone from ranking 126th in gross domestic product (GDP) to 14th among the municipalities of the state of Paraiba, of which it is the largest.

When talking about solar energy, Cazuza was referring to the 316 panels and other photovoltaic generation equipment installed in 2018 on the roofs of the cooperative’s plant headquarters, in the district of Fazenda Morro Fechado, a transition zone between the rural area and the urban centre of Monteiro.

The investment was made with non-refundable resources from an International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) loan to the government of Paraíba, equivalent to US$62,970, with a counterpart of US$1,830 from the cooperative itself.

“The solar system caused a 90% reduction in energy costs, which guaranteed operations, even during the pandemic,” the cooperative’s president, Fabrício de Souza Ferreira, told IPS. These costs used to be as high as US$2,280 dollars a month.

Savings brought trucks

The savings enabled the purchase of a truck for distribution of products, which was previously carried out by hired transporters.

Now, the cooperative has six trucks for milk collection and product distribution (yoghurt, cheese, butter, dulce de leche, cottage cheese and others), which have grown from six to 20, with different flavours and presentations.

In recent years, the governments of the Northeastern states have been promoting the production and consumption of goat cheeses. Between 23 and 26 October, the Paraíba Cheese and Cachaça Salon was held in the Paraiba capital, João Pessoa. Capribom presented 12 products and all of them won medals: eight gold and four silver.

Capribom faced great difficulties when the covid-19 pandemic hit the region and the public procurement programmes for food from family farming were suspended for four months.

“Before the pandemic, we had 400 members, four of whom died. With the pandemic, the number of those still supplying milk dropped to 250 because we were still working and could not leave them stranded, although all our employees got sick,” said an emotional Ferreira.

What sustained production then was the supply of milk to the army and the emerging local private market. Deliveries to schools resumed after a few months. Despite the suspension of classes, students still picked up their processed meals.

As the pandemic passed, recovery was vigorous. Today, Capribom, founded in 2006, has 583 registered members and 80 members awaiting approval of their applications by the members’ assembly.

Increased production

In September this year, the dairy plant was processing 18,000 litres of milk per day, of which 12,000 were cow milk and 6,000 were goat milk. Some 15% was produced in three settlements (communities of farmers settled by the agrarian reform) in the region.

Before the pandemic, there were 10,000 litres in total, which in 2020 was reduced to 7,000, of which 3,000 were from goats, explained Ferreira during a tour of the plant.

Initially, the solar installation generated surplus energy, which was used in the milk coolers at the collection centres. The recent expansion required the installation of another 100 solar panels and related equipment, now with the cooperative’s own resources.

“We still have a deficit because the new machines, cooler, pasteuriser and yoghurt maker (3,000 litres) consume a lot of energy, but they have reduced losses. We will need 50 more”, said Ferreira, with satisfaction. Expanding production will require another cold room and more energy, he adds.

In fact, turnover has multiplied. Before the pandemic, Capribom sold the equivalent of two million litres a year; now it’s around seven million.

And the results directly benefit the cooperative’s members, who are guaranteed placement of their production and receive the equivalent of US$0.40 per litre delivered, while other buyers pay only US$0.32.

Capribom’s achievements do not only benefit its members. Although cooperatives in Brazil are exempt from some taxes, the agribusiness contributes around 25% of the revenue of the municipality of Monteiro.

In addition to tax benefits, Brazilian cooperatives have preferential treatment in public tenders.

This allows family farming cooperatives to place their products with stable prices and terms, but has bureaucratic drawbacks and relies on public policies.

Among these initiatives is the National School Feeding Programme (PNAE), which reaches 41 million students in public schools throughout the country, with resources from the federal government transferred to states and municipalities.

This is also the case of the Food Acquisition Programme, through which the government buys food produced by family farming and transfers it to public and welfare entities and so-called popular restaurants.

Public procurement used to absorb 90% of Capribom’s production, a percentage that is now down to 70%. Reducing dependence on government programmes and expanding its market are two of the cooperative’s objectives.

“With other family farming cooperatives, we created a central cooperative, called Nordestina, to jointly sell everything from dairy products to fruit pulp, tubers, free-range chickens and eggs, which allows us to reach more markets with reduced costs,” Ferreira said.

Slaughterhouse recovery

The most important project for the end of 2024 is to put into operation the Goat and Sheep Slaughterhouse of Monteiro, located next to Capribom’s own slaughterhouse.

This agro-industry was built by the national government in 2000 and handed over to a consortium of municipalities. The management contract expired and the facilities were never put into operation. They were looted or became scrap metal.

“In the current government, technicians visited us and saw the potential. We negotiated with the state government and the mayor’s office. The national government passed the facilities to the state, which passed them on to the mayor’s office, and the mayor’s office gave Capribom a transfer of use,” Ferreira said.

The cooperative recovered part of the equipment. The government of Paraíba is acquiring new cold rooms and installing them on site.

With a capacity to slaughter 120 small animals daily (goats and sheep, and eventually pigs), the slaughterhouse will be the only one in Paraíba complying with the sanitary standards required by Brazilian legislation and will be able to participate in public procurement programmes.

Deboned cuts of sheep and goat meat will be sent to schools. Whole pieces will be sent to other entities, but Ferreira does not lose sight of the market for special cuts. “It’s a small market, but it’s a gourmet type market,” he explained.

Capribom has 50 employees, and another 30 will work in the slaughterhouse when it starts to operate normally.

According to administrative director Cazuza, 80% of the employees are children of the cooperative members.

This is the case of Wesley Cristyan Batista da Silva, who has a degree in agro-ecology and has been working for two months evaluating the milk delivered by the producers to the dairy and providing them with technical assistance.

Historically, young people from family farming emigrated from the semi-arid region due to a lack of study and work opportunities.

Da Silva is part of a different generation. He has a university degree and combines collaboration in the family property with employment in the cooperative. “Am I satisfied? Yes. It was what I wanted and what I intend to continue doing,” he told IPS confidently.