From Brazil to Berlin: The Stories Behind Sustainable Sneakers

Joana Darck Bezerra Siqueira, a Brazilian cotton farmer, looks out at the merchandise and crowd inside the packed VEJA store. She shares her story of gaining financial independence. Instead of planting only cotton, she now grows other crops alongside it, helping to regenerate her land while supporting her livelihood. “The cotton that you see in the store today, also represents our freedom, because it provides us with the income that allows us to live the life that we want to live.”, she explains, clearly hitting a nerve among the audience. Her story represents one of many accounts that evening, demonstrating the impact that sustainable farming practices can have on both land and livelihoods. The transformation towards sustainability extends beyond the adoption of new farming techniques.

The drive, resilience and power of community was on full display as cotton farmers, rubber tappers and cooperative leaders shared their personal experiences. Their testimonies showed that supporting people and communities in the transition to sustainable cotton and natural rubber production delivers benefits beyond environmental protection. It also helps build stronger community structures and fosters local leadership equipped to guide long-term, sustainable development. “Every single one of our local partners are incredible people. With their energy, passion and drive they already achieve a lot. Together with VEJA we are proud to amplify their efforts so that they can achieve even more.”, Florian Reil, advisor on agricultural supply chains at SASI sums up the evening full of inspiring stories. 

SASI’s cooperation with VEJA has focused on organic cotton and natural rubber since 2023. The projects were designed together with VEJA utilizing the strengths of the public and private sector respectively. VEJA provides commercial stability for cotton farmers and rubber tappers by paying fair prices and purchasing guaranteed amounts, while SASI supports the transition to sustainable production methods.

In Brazil’s northeast, SASI and VEJA work with farming families who grow organic cotton, promoting so called intercropping: Instead of planting just cotton, they grow it alongside food crops. This means healthier soil and more food for their families. Additionally,  they can diversify their income, especially in regions where conditions are fundamentally changing due to climate change. The farmers themselves lead this work, sharing knowledge and supporting one another. SASI was able to significantly advance the benefits of this practice for the local farmers by financing processing units for the new crops.  

“Through the partnership with VEJA and SASI it has been possible to further advance our products grown through intercropping. With the first processing units in the semi-arid region in Brazil we can now produce and market peanut, sesame paste and oil and earn additional income.” Fábio Santiago Coordinator at the NGO Diaconia, one of the local partners, explains to the crowd. As a woman Lucineide Cordeiro Marinho, a generational cotton farmer and now leader of her own community association, was not only faced with technological challenges when introducing intercropping into her community. Yet she has come out the other side more empowered than ever: “I was the first to bring the idea of intercropping into my community. As a female farmer I encountered so many challenges and doubts from others, now I am leading the way. As the president of my community association, I now support other women.”, she tells an audience clearly moved by her story. 

In the Amazon region, SASI’s partnership with VEJA and the NGO SOS Amazonia focuses on natural rubber and forest protection. By supporting natural land regeneration and reforestation rubber tappers protect their forests and improve their livelihoods. Carlos Lopes, project coordinator at VEJA explains: “Our project is called HABITAR, which translates to “live in”. We do not only pay the rubber tappers a fair price for their product but we also pay for their protection and restoration of the forest. We want to ensure that rubber tapping families can keep living with and from the forest.”. Jose Rodrigues de Araujo a local rubber tapper underlines the direct impact that a growth of sales has had on the project itself: “If the shoes sell, we can expand the project and include more rubber tapping families. Now 2500 families across the Amazon region produce natural rubber and earn a living while protecting the rainforest.” 

VEJA Co-Founder François-Ghislain Morillion closes the event underlining the importance of partnership that is at the heart of these projects: “There is the rational part of our story, the price we pay the farmers, the amount of rainforest that we protect but moreover what I also strongly value is the joy of building bridges and enabling dreams together.” At the end of the event one thing rings true for everyone; sustainability puts people and nature first. Only through strong partnerships between the public organizations, the private sector and the people in local communities can we achieve lasting change.