Impact Spotlight

68 families supplied with solar agricultural systems

Solar-powered agriculture and economic opportunity for remote Indigenous communities

Project replication in 4+ neighboring communities

About

Associação Dos Trabalhadores Agroextrativistas Da Ilha Das Cinzas (ATAIC) is a community-based organization founded in 2000 by women on the island of Ilha das Cinzas, located in the Brazilian Amazon River estuary in the State of Pará. Since its founding, ATAIC has worked to strengthen the socioeconomic status of the families of Ilha das Cinzas, most of whom are agricultural workers.

Ilha das Cinzas is extremely isolated and accessible only via a network of rivers. There is no access to grid-tied electricity, and limited access to other basic services including drinking water, sanitation, and sewage treatment. In a previous community project, before the Honnold Foundation began working with the community, ten families installed solar home systems, but a lack of technical assistance left these systems neglected and in a state of disrepair. Since 2020, with the support of the Honnold Foundation, ATAIC has repaired those systems, installed more than 50 additional systems, and provided mutual aid support during the height of the COVID pandemic. The results in the community have been astounding; for the first time in years, the community has seen its population grow as people return home from Brazil’s cities. And now, neighboring communities are calling for similar solutions.

“ATAIC [promotes] the socioeconomic equity of riverbank families excluded from the current rural policies enforced in Brazil by agribusiness.”

HF Partnership

Since 2020, the Honnold Foundation has partnered with the community-based organization ATAIC to bring electricity to over 50 families in the remote Brazilian Amazon. With a diverse array of solar solutions, the project has improved the social, economic, and food security across the community through solar home systems, food processors, and water systems.

The overwhelmingly positive impacts of this project have resulted in other communities turning to ATAIC for similar solutions. With new unrestricted funding from HF, ATAIC will now take the lessons they have learned and work towards replicating their project in up to four neighboring communities. Similar to the original partnership, the new projects will be completely community-driven, managed, and owned, and will set the stage for a solar-powered future for the entire region.