Grupo BBF (Brasil BioFuels), the largest palm oil producer in Latin America, continues to operate in the state of Pará, generating job and income opportunities for the local population. With the aim of helping to include people with disabilities (PCD) in the job market, the company has signed a partnership with the National Industrial Apprenticeship Service (Senai) to encourage professional training and personal development workshops for young talents recruited through a selection process in the city of Belém.
The courses last an average of ten months and are focused on administrative areas. Besides the teachings of the area itself, the curriculum includes open innovation and creativity methods, entrepreneurship concepts, among others. The students also receive a monthly scholarship offered by the company throughout the course to help with transportation and meals during the classes.
In all, Grupo BBF has already supported the completion of five classes of new professionals for the job market, with a total of 125 students trained. After the training, the company also offers the trainees various opportunities within the selection process for its permanent staff.
"I had the opportunity to take part in the last Administrative Assistant class and got a spot in the job market through this qualification. I thank the BBF and SENAI for the opportunity, because, as a disabled person I have always found it difficult to get into any job; and what we need is exactly support from institutions in helping us to ensure a future with more quality and inclusion through education", says Matheus Vaz, administrative assistant.
Senai's regional superintendent, Dário Lemos, says that this type of partnership encourages other institutions to think of social inclusion as an effective part of their actions.
"The BBF initiative brings us many reflections about social inclusion, and is a clear example of how we should unite to fight for the process of inclusion of all in society. We are very happy to receive projects like this one from BBF that help us to be part of the history of these young people. It seems little considering all the challenges ahead of us, but the evolution of each student inspires us to keep working for more people with disabilities inserted in the job market," concludes Dario.
In 2022, Grupo BBF carried out more than 40 actions aimed at communities in the municipalities of the Acará Valley, such as building bridges, maintaining side roads, expanding 4G coverage, among other improvements. Among the highlights of the improvements in infrastructure and services are the construction of 9 bridges, the maintenance of more than 650 kilometers of side roads, the construction of artesian wells, water tank structures for the communities, vocational courses, lectures on environmental preservation in public schools, plant health technical assistance to farmers in the region, among others.
Another important landmark in BBF's operation in Pará is the generation of jobs and income. Of the more than 6 thousand direct employees that the company currently has, more than 5 thousand are in jobs in the state of Pará. With the job opportunities and the socio-economic development of the region, there are more than 18 thousand indirect activities generated by the company.
Through the Family Farming Program, of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, BBF encourages more than 400 families in communities in the municipalities of Tomé Açu and Acará, in the State of Pará. To them, BBF provides seedlings, barter to buy fertilizers at affordable prices, technical assistance with experts in oil palm cultivation, bank credit assistance, incentives for continuous improvement, and a guarantee to buy the fruits at competitive market prices. In all, production has guaranteed an income of more than R$30 million to the company's partner families working in oil palm cultivation.
Grupo BBF, a Brazilian company founded in 2008, is the largest oil palm producer in Latin America, with a cultivated area of over 75,000 hectares and production of around 200,000 tons of oil per year, and one of the pioneers in creating sustainable solutions for generating electricity in isolated systems: plants powered by biodiesel produced in the region. Its agricultural activity recovers areas that were degraded until 2007 in the Amazon, following the Agroecological Zoning of Oil Palm Culture (ZAE), approved by Decree 7.172, of May 7, 2010.
BBF has created an integrated business model in which it operates from the beginning to the end of the value chain - from sustainable oil palm cultivation, crude oil extraction and biofuel production, biotechnology to renewable electricity generation - with assets totaling around R$2.1 billion and activities generating more than 6,000 direct jobs in the northern region of Brazil. BBF's operations are located in the states of Acre, Amazonas, Rondônia, Roraima and Pará, comprising 38 thermoelectric plants (25 in operation and 13 under implementation), 3 oil palm crushing units, 1 soybean extruder and 1 biodiesel industry.
