**PURAVIDAonline**

Location: Based at Fazenda Peri located in Agua Fria on the “Rio de Contas” approximately 35km West (WSW) of Itacaré on the road BA-654 in the state of Bahia on the east coast of Brazil. As the crow flies the land is about 170 kilometers from Salvador, as the bus drives however it is approximately 400km away.

Size: 151 hectares which is approximately 370 acres, composed of 51 Ha of cacau plantations, 95 Ha of rainforest (Mata Atlantica) and 5 Ha of green meadows

Legality: All the payments have been made and the ownership has been secured with the official registration of the Promise of Sale. Ownership is being transferred to the collective NGO, PURAVIDA ( Pure Life) which is in the process of being set up by Max and Luiz (the lawyers). Max, Elin and Bruno will be the first signatories.

Permanent presence: Silva who is our Bahian representative for PURAVIDA,  is also the caretaker and has the head responsability for the cacau plantation where he works together with Peba, Netto and Cachoeira. At the fazenda lives also Cachoeira’s wife René and their three kids,  two mules, one old donkey and a light sprinkling of kittens.

Buildings and land use: There are six buildings in total, three buildings for the workers and their families , two buildings for communal living, kitchen and library and one storage room. The buildings at the top of the hill are largely geared for cacao processing. They consist of two large building with a movable roof for drying cacao, the fist one has three rooms containing an oven (for cacao processing), storage for dried cacao and fermentation room for freshly harvested beans plus horsey equipment, the second one has a big living space plus another room without windows for storage or workshop. The living space has already been renovated with a new blue floor, freshly painted walls, new wooden doors and window shutters and the construction of a shady wooden terrace with tile roof. The other building at the top of the hill contains a large kitchen and two other lovely rooms which it is imagined will be used for communal activity and perhaps a delicious guest room for extra-special guests.

It is imagined that this area will be the focal point for the farm. There are however issues with shade, and this will need to be addressed either through the planting of suitable shade trees or clever constructions. There are fruit trees nearby; avocado, guava, banana, papaya, limes, coconut, inga, caja, cashew, a few clove trees and lots of jackfruit trees.

Work has begun on two veggie gardens, herb garden, nursery and composting. Two hundred coconut trees have been planteed recently along with many,many more fruit trees including orange,lime, tangerine, rambutan, graviola, acerola, mango, maracuja, abiu and jambre. In march 2009, an abandonned pasture has been renovated following permaculture principles with swales on contour. About 2000 banana trees (mainly plantain) have been planted as a nurse crop along with nitrogen fixing species. A nursery also been started for guarana and coffee.

Water: Drinking water is available from a number of springs. The best quality spring is located a little distance from the top of the hill and will need to be pumped. Ways to achieve this have been discussed and it is imagined that the best way will be to use a series of small, self-contained solar pumps. A holding tank will need to be constructed, but this is a relatively straightforward thing to do. There are also plans to install gutters collecting rainwater and build wash stations by all houses next to the gardens. The dish water could then go straight into the veggie gardens instead of the river.

Power: Though heartily endowed with positive energy and sweet vibrations there is currently no electricity on the land. Mains power is 110V (60Hz) and is available on the other side of the river. It is possible that a cable could be laid or pylon constructed but this is seen to be unnecessary and undesireable. There is much potential for renewable sources of power and this is certainly the way to go. Discussion has focused on either solar (photovoltaics) or small-scale hydro (making use of the blessing of the river). The hydro scheme would provide much more cost-effective energy, as the capital costs are low and the energy density high, however there is much manual labor involved, digging channels and constructing a small hut to contain the turbine, batteries and inverter. This is not considered to be a priority however as there is no urgent need for electrical power. In the short term, it is thought that a small photovoltaic panel/battery system could be constructed to provide power for tunes and tools.

Shareholders and the Collective: There are currently 19 ‘stewards’ (cf google spreadsheet).  The idea of giving a share to a elected representative of the local area (the mayor of Agua Fria for example) has been discussed. This would be done in the spirit of ensuring a local vested interest in the welfare of the land as well as involving local people and knowledge with the decision making processes. This would be a rolling position passed on from representative to representative accordingly.

The power of the collective over the corporation seems to be a shared theme and as such, ideas have been mooted as to how the decision-making process and profit handling would work in the best interests of the land and the vision we share. A tentative idea has been that the Stewards would constitute the council within which issues and decisions pertaining to the land and the collective would be discussed and resolved by consensus. It has been suggested that at this early point, any finance generated from the bounty of the land belong to the land itself. It would be used to support those that are working on and taking care of the land, as well as providing the means to buy equipment such as tools, solar water pumps and maracas.

Chocolate: There is currently 51 ha of land being used to grow cacao. This produces approximately 8 tons of cacao a year. It is imagined that the quality and quantity of this harvest can be massively improved with the application of a little love and some simple and sensitive farming techniques (cf. Methods of www.fazendavitoria.com ). We are also looking into the possibility of planting fine cacau which yields a much higher quality crops, we have links with US based non profit organization Tecno Serve, (cf. www.kakawagourmet.com) who have been helping us with advice.

The current price paid for cacao on the local market is approximately 4 reals (about 1 pound) per kilo. This, it is imagined, is sufficient to allow the farm to be self-sustaining in its current incarnation.

The price paid for cacao in Britain is currently approximately 900 pence per kilo. The ultimate purpose is to pack a few tons of raw, dried cacao into a sail boat and sail it east to Britain following the road of the gulf stream. The advantages that this plan offer are manifold and include:

•By missing out the string of middlepeople and transporting the cacao from source to market directly via a piratical high-seas adventure means that our costs are very low. This allows greater scope for undercutting the Corporation.

•Our connections in the world of English chocolateers are many and varied. One of the investors (Linus) is a chocolate trader and we have good connections with Green and Blacks, two raw chocolate producers in Brighton and one in London.

•We will (potentially) be offering raw, fairtrade, organic, zero-carbon-mile chocolate. This has never been done before.

Community: After having tentatively run a few workshops with the local kids at the Fazenda, which involved capoeira classes , music, theatre, building and chocolate making, the idea of creating an alternative place for learning and exchanging has flowered with plans of offering open workshops for and with the local community this coming brazilian summer. It would be a place for learning much in line with the Barefoot College in India ( www.barefootcollege.org ), a place for exchanging knowledge about sustainability, the local flora and fauna, arts and crafts etc. These workshops would take place on the 1 ha of the side of the road, to facilitate participation by the local community, but could also involve workshops in the gardens and the mata on the other side of the river.

Filming: The notion of recording this madcap chocolaty adventure was discussed and it was decided that this might well be a good idea. Since those discussions we have been approached by a Brighton-based film making company (www.animalmonday.co.uk) who have heard about the project and are keen to look at the possibilities of making a documentary. Funding opportunities have been discussed, which would make such a notion possible as well as providing us with a camera. Animal Monday are currently tentatively running the idea past Channel Four. A few other documentary film makers have shown their interest in putting this adventure into a film.