Maria Gorete Rios owns the first rural property on the Trans-Amazonian Highway in Pará to individually identify its cattle by the Pará Individual Bovine Traceability System (SRBIPA). This year, she completed her first direct sales to a slaughterhouse, gaining greater autonomy and negotiating power for livestock farming families.
The 20 animals she sold are part of a larger group of 543 animals that were sold directly with Solidaridad’s help in 2025, resulting in more than R$1.4 million (~225k euros) for ranchers. Promoting direct access to slaughterhouses eliminates farmers’ dependence on middlemen and allows for economic gains of up to 30% more.
Traceable cattle have a higher market value because they meet sustainability requirements and comply with legal regulations. Currently, Gorete dedicates part of her time as a technical assistance agent, encouraging other ranchers to follow the same path of productivity, transparency and social responsibility.
“I strongly advocate for traceability. Today I’m making a profit from it, as I work for a company that serves producers in Pará,” says Gorete. She explains that misinformation is widespread, which is why she works to “demystify” the process for other ranchers.
She also elaborates on the benefits of following this path. “In direct sales, farmers make a forecast, and the buyer comes to pick up the animals. Ranchers don’t have any costs: buyers pick them up at your property and even pay more than a middleman. It’s much more practical, as long as everything is in accordance with the law and from an environmental point of view.”
From the city to the countryside
Eleven years ago, Gorete changed her life path, leaving behind the city and her job as a school secretary. She bought the Rancho da Pedra farm, 8 kilometers from Novo Repartimento, and took up farming.
Her first priority was to restore native forest coverage. The Brazilian Forest Code (Law 12.651/2012) required her to maintain 8-9 hectares of a Permanent Preservation Area (PPA) (native vegetation around riverbanks and slopes), but she decided to recover an even larger area.
“First, I renovated everything, recovered the PPA with açaí planting… the land was very degraded when I bought it, with poor vegetation. Then I improved the pastures, got a loan and started with cattle, but I sold them to middlemen,” she says.
With support from Solidaridad, Gorete implemented an initial rotational grazing system over five hectares. After seeing success, she expanded this practice to an area of 78 hectares, part of which she dedicates to growing native fruits, such as açaí and cocoa, to supplement her income.
“I joined the project and the technicians answered many of my questions. Rotational grazing was a good thing, and the meetings promoted by Solidaridad opened many doors for me. It was a starting point for me to improve: with the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR), I got access to the market, with direct sales to the slaughterhouse.”
“The role that Solidaridad plays in connecting the producer to other actors in the production chain, such as the Secretariat of the Environment and Sustainability and Agricultural Defense Agency of Pará, is very important.”
Maria Gorete Rios
Transparent livestock farming
In a joint effort between the public and private sectors to boost productivity, transparency, and social and environmental responsibility, Solidaridad is supporting the SRBIPA and commercial requalification.
The SRBIPA guarantees herd traceability, improving management, sanitary control and access to direct sales. This commercial requalification is fundamental for producers still outside the formal market. Solidaridad provides technical assistance and legal guidance, helping livestock farmers move towards formalization. This opens a path for them to sell directly to slaughterhouses, increasing their income and autonomy, shortening the production chain and reducing the risk of deforestation.
Income through conservation
Solidaridad has worked with livestock farming families in the Amazon for over 10 years, introducing commercial requalification last year. The first step is to understand the reality of family livestock farmers, historically marked by low productivity, limited market access and socioeconomic vulnerabilities. By engaging in dialogue with producers, the technical staff can clarify negative perceptions around traceability—often seen as just another bureaucratic requirement—and introduce its potential for adding value to their herds.
The model promoted by Solidaridad strengthens income generation for rural families, encourages the conservation of standing forests, and strategically addresses the main challenges of the livestock supply chains: the indirect supplier segment. In this way, the initiative contributes to building a fairer, more transparent production system aligned with global goals for deforestation-free family farming in the Amazon.