Monday July 11th, 2022

In recent years, the socio-environmental responsibility of companies in the agricultural sector has become an increasingly common agenda in Brazil’s bilateral relations, especially with large trading partners, such as the European Union.

The concern with sustainable food production, social development and job creation is no longer a differential but a requirement. Since then, several companies are adapting to new models of sustainable production and investing in social projects.

In the fruit production chain, a good example of socio-environmental responsibility is Agrodan, which in addition to being the largest mango producer and exporter in Brazil, preserves an area of about 690 hectares of environmental reserve. Where School “Professora Olindina Roriz Dantas” was created, which brings hope and development to a very poor area in Pernambuco.

“A true dream come true”. This is how the director of Agrodan, Paulo Dantas, described the school, located in the rural area of Belém do São Francisco (PE), and named after his mother Olindina, who worked as a teacher in this region for 35 years.

It all started in 2016, when Paulo founded Agrodan Social. The school was the first major project, inaugurated in November of the following year. In 2018, it started the school year with more than 220 children aged between 3 and 10 years, from Belém do São Francisco and surrounding areas.

According to Paulo Dantas, every year a new class is created to serve the growing students. “Today there are already 324 students enrolled from kindergarten to ninth grade. Currently, those who are in the ninth grade, in 2023 will go to high school, with the qualification in data science. And our intention is to start a College of Information Technology in 2026. So we hope to offer all the necessary qualifications to form professionals”, he said.

The school is not just about educating children. Students have access to public transportation (boat and bus), four meals a day, robotics classes, foreign languages, arts, sports. The space also has locker rooms, a soccer field, a playground, a vegetable garden, an orchard and even a bike rack.

In addition, as a way of strengthening students’ knowledge, teachers promote continuing education in Portuguese and Mathematics. “Our goal is to provide high quality education to these rural children and youngsters. Probably their future is to work in the fields, but we give them the opportunity to practice any profession, it just depends on their will”, explained Paulo.

Even with the Covid-19 pandemic, social work has not stopped. Faced with the difficulty of accessing the internet, Agrodan sought two providers in the region, ATEL and Vale NET. And installed the equipment in the students’ homes so that the educational process would not be interrupted. The students also received 265 notebooks and tablets, donated by Banco do Brasil Foundation.

“This school is changing the scenario of the region, bringing development to the population. Students at “Escola Professora Olindina Roriz Dantas” receive training in data science, English and entrepreneurship. They will be able to choose the profession they want”, said Dantas.

To keep the school, Agrodan allocates 10% of its profit. Another 10% goes to the employees, divided by criteria of meritocracy, that is, 20% of the company’s total profit goes to this social part. “We provide decent employment, with profit sharing; education for employees’ children and medical care for employees”, highlighted the director.

Agrodan – The company has been in the market for over 35 years and stands out for the production of fiber-free mangoes, known for being sweet and eaten with a spoon. The producing farms are located in the municipalities of Belém do São Francisco, Curaçá and Abaré, all in Bahia. The corporate office is located in Recife (PE).

In 2020, Agrodan had a record production of more than 31 million kilograms of mango. These spoon sweet mangoes and other varieties produced by Agrodan are present in more than 10 countries in Europe.

Meet the mango exporters in Brazil – https://frutasdobrasil.org/pb/exportadores/