Chapter 11 - Açaí: The Forest Farms of the Amazon Estuary

Abstract

The açaí (Euterpe oleracea) is one of the most common palms in the Amazon estuary, and it has a history of extraction that goes back to pre-historic times. Whereas until recent decades the fruit of the palm was essentially a rural staple, today açaí is not only consumed by rural dwellers but also increasingly by urban consumers and has even become established on the international market as a delicacy and, because of its rich content of micronutrients, a ‘superfood’. Increasing market value and demand have led açaí producers to intensify the management of their stands, to such a point that it has become an intermediate case between a wild and a domesticated resource. The importance of açaí and the income it generates in rural households has reinforced rural-urban trade, but, on the other hand, the açaí boom largely takes place beyond the formal economy, and its contribution to societal development has thus also remained mainly in the informal sphere.