World Environment Day 2005

Profile: Inside a Favela

© Deise lane/Viva Favela. Brasil

Living in urban communities poses challenges to those who want to grow gardens. Here is a glimpse of urban life provided by a team of journalists and community residents living in a shantytown with a long tradition of community gardens. This article is printed with permission from Viva Favela, the first Internet web site to focus on the needs and interests of low income communities. Viva Favela started in July 2001 to allow those living in shantytowns throughout Rio de Janeiro the opportunity to write about the human, cultural, economic and social dimensions of their communities referred to as favelas. A large number of Rio de Janeiro's population live in favelas.

In Rocinha, Brasil, one of the largest favelas in all of Latin America, a green renewal is taking hold. Here is an inside look from those living in this favela:

The plants of Rocinha

© Nando Dias/Viva Favela. Brasil

At the beginning of the last century, the landscape of Rocinha was covered with fruit trees and vast vegetable gardens. Many small farms sustain families in the neighborhood. When the population grew, the community gardens began to disappear. However, not all of them did. Even though there are no community gardens like before, in some places trees and gardens survive just as the families in the neighborhoods have.

Many residents of Rocinha have followed past traditions and become urban agriculturalists. There are people -- like ex-newspaper deliverer Cleber Pires de Melo, nicknamed "Dinga"-- who have even created minifazendas (minifarms) that have been extremely successful in the neighborhood.

© Nando Dias/Viva Favela. Brasil

Dinga is following in the footsteps of his grandmother, who always loved picking fruit from trees and raising ducks, chickens and pigs in her own backyard. "It is practically a farm: I have two ducks, about twenty chickens, and on top of that I planted Jilo (a type of vegetable), collard greens, cilantro, scallions, parsley, lettuce, tomatoes, and some peppers", he said. "I didn't want to eat the vegetables from the market, full of chemicals and GMO. On top of that, it is so easy to plant, isn't it?" Without knowing too much about gardening (only what he had learned from his grandmother), he began to research. "I would watch a show called Globo Rual, and found all the information I needed", Dinga explains.

So with that, he rolled up his sleeves and went to work creating a new garden. "My vegetables started to grow rapidly", says Dinga happily. He is so enthusiastic that he is already planning to extend his garden. "I want to plant cabbage, onions and potatoes".

The neighbors admire his talent with the garden. "When it grows, they ask and I give it all away, but I think that everybody should cultivate their own garden", he says with an air of authority. He does not, however, plan to live off the garden. "I don't plant to sell, only if there is extra wasting away, then yes I will sell", he says.

Since the fame of Dinga's garden has crossed over the border of Rocinha, he is planning to work professionally in the agriculture business. The way things are going, his garden will cease to be a hobby and transform into a means of survival. "A woman in the next neighborhood (Barra) asked me to plant and cultivate a garden for her", says the newest professional agriculturist of Rocinha.

In the Amaral family, tradition is also very strong. "When my father came over around 1929, everything was swamp and there were few settlements. He planted everything here," says 55-year-old Marisa Amaral. In her neighborhood, a mango tree that has survived more than a century lives in the midst of a parking lot. In the Amaral's backyard, there are many trees that were planted by previous generations of Amaral men who were among the first settlers of the community.

Marisa and four other children have grown up there, watching their father cultivate fruits and vegetables. "In the past there were many sweet potatoes, fruta-pao (fruit), cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and much more. As the population grew, the orchards diminished. Up to now we've still taken care of the trees. We have passion fruit, graviola (fruit), advoados, jaca, coconut, mangos, guava," says the proud Marisa. In her house there is no lack of fruit.

The space is now surrounded by high rise buildings, and Marisa and her sister-in-law, Juraci Ferreira Amaral, 41, struggle to maintain their beautiful orchard. "There is a neighbor who also grew up here and helps us. He climbs the trees, prunes them, and does the majority of the maintenance. But in our daily routine, we are responsible for everything," says Juraci. She and Marisa continue to do everything like their mother and grandmother did before them.

The thing that worries the Amaral family is the lack of sun. Today the orchards suffer from the construction of high-rise buildings which block the sun's rays. "Certain plants with thin stems, like colored greens, suffer from this and rot," they say regretfully. This is what prevents the Amaral family from extending the plants indoors, which is different from Dinga's garden.

The blessing of having a tree

This is a problem that Ailton Araujo Ferreira, known as "Macarrao", doesn't have. Macarrao lives on one of the hillsides and has the privilege of having his house surrounded with all kinds of fruits and vegetables. "The residents of Rocinha were born surrounded by greenery," he proudly says. In his backyard he has a passion fruit tree and a chuchu tree. The one who takes care of the garden is his wife. "In reality, God is the one that takes care of all the orchards and vegetables," he believes.

Living where he does, Macarrao admits that the landscape influenced him. He loves plants and has a special admiration for the century old mango tree, right across the street. "They say the mango tree is a blessing. For me it means peace, health, and harmony. If anybody tries to cut it down, it would start a war here", he warns.