Hi folks, I'm going to talk about agriculture in my quilombo (maroon community).

My name is Cleiton and I was born in the quilombo Santa Maria dos Pretos, which is located in the municipality of Itapecuru Mirim in the state of Maranhão, where I now live in the quilombo Santa Joana.

First I'm going to talk about how the name Santa Joana came to be. The name arose when African slaves were brought to Brazil to work in the mills. The ancestors who arrived at the quilombo brought their saints with them and baptized the lands with the names of saints. The name of the quilombo then became known as Quilombo Santa Joana.

Inside the quilombo there is a flour mill, which arrived thanks to the president of the quilombo, Mr. João Batista, with the help of the state government. This flour mill is also known as the "oven house", where the producers produce their flour. It serves both as food and as a source of income for us.

Producing good flour is a very delicate process. We have to plant it and then pull out the roots and let it soak for three days.

One of the biggest obstacles we face is the lack of necessary equipment for the production process. We need machines in order to get the most out of the cassava plant, whose peels and leaves can be used to make feed for our animals.

But despite these challenges we continue producing good-quality flour. Mr. João Batista, who is also a priest within the Afro-Brazilian religious tradition and a coordinator of Uniquita*, continues his efforts to this day to obtain a good structure and quality equipment for our flour mill.

*União das Associações de Comunidades Negras Rurais Quilombolas do Município de Itapecuru Mirim/Maranhão (Union of the Rural Afro-Brazilian Quilombo Community Associations of the Municipality of Itapecuru Mirim/Maranhão)

Translation: Andru Shively (VUB)