Experimentação de Tecnologias Sociais de Convivência com o Semiárido no SERTA de Ibimirim-PE

Urban Farm DB summary

A report on SERTA (Alternative Technology Service), a Brazilian institution offering an agroecology technical course for rural and urban youth and traditional communities, describing a 30-hour internship experience of students from the Glória do Goitá unit at the Ibimirim unit in Pernambuco's semi-arid Sertão do Moxotó, in the caatinga biome, on a 5-hectare site with a range of native and exotic trees, shrubs, herbs and medicinal plants and a large variety of cacti. Activities included observing social technologies such as cactus-grafting techniques, animal and plant husbandry, use of high-protein, high-value medicinal and food plants such as moringa (Moringa oleifera) and pitaya (Hylocereus undatus), and participation in the "Caatinga Emoldurada" project making handcrafted lamps from dead plant material, as well as hands-on exposure to solar and wind energy use and to aquaponics combining fish, chickens, medicinal plants, fruit trees, vegetables and unconventional food plants (PANC).