The Mariense Handicraft Cooperative (COMARTE), founded in 1999 in the municipality of Maria da Fé, in the south of Minas Gerais, is a living example of how local handicrafts can become an engine for economic, cultural and social development. For 25 uninterrupted years, the Gente de Fibra Project has been one of the cooperative’s pillars, promoting sustainability and innovation through the use of local raw materials.
Since August of this year, Sebrae Minas. one of the organization’s main partners – with the support of Maria da Fé City Hall, and the executing partnership of Raízes Desenvolvimento Sustentável – Gente de Fibra has been preparing for a new phase in its trajectory through the “Gente de Fibra – Cocriando o Futuro” Project.
Pioneering innovation and sustainability
From the outset, Gente de Fibra’s purpose was to transform local surplus materials into innovative products with a strong cultural identity. Initially under the leadership of artist Domingos Tótora, the group of artisans pioneered the use of banana fibers and recycled cardboard to create decorative and useful pieces that capture the essence of Maria da Fé. This work, which combined recycling, the ecological use of raw materials, and cultural revival, anticipated the agenda of sustainability and authorship in handicrafts, which only gained momentum in Brazil years later and continues to do so.
In these 25 years, the cooperative has stood out at national and international fairs, positioning its products as a benchmark in design crafts. In addition to sustainability, the productive inclusion of local artisans has strengthened the region’s economy, generating employment and reviving Mariense’s cultural heritage.
Co-creating a future
The Cocreating the Future project is a development initiative aimed at structuring handicrafts and connecting know-how to local identity. It will work on the pillars of products, people, and territory by strengthening governance and production groups, with a special focus on strategic repositioning, strengthening the business, and creating new products for the cooperative and Gente de Fibra.
Jussara Rocha, partner, and project director at Raízes Desenvolvimento Sustentável and coordinator of this project, has been following the cooperative and the workshop since the beginning of her career, when she was still working at Sebrae Minas. She comments: “The most fascinating thing is to see the mix of generations. Although some people have left and new ones have joined, there are still founders taking part. This keeps the essence of the group alive, while new ideas are incorporated“.
Cocreating the Future currently has 5 stages:
- Presentation of the project to partners and alignment of expectations;
- Mapping and analysis of the cooperative’s internal and external resources;
- Strategic Repositioning;
- A look at Business Management;
- A Look at Production and the Market.
The project is at the strategic repositioning stage, consisting of workshops and the construction of a new strategic map, which redefines the purpose of the business, its mission, and values. It also seeks to create objectives, targets, and a future plan with short- and medium-term actions, aimed at consolidating the purpose and innovation in production management.
This stage is fundamental for repositioning the cooperative, both internally and externally, and for communicating an evolving status to society and the market.
“Facilitating the strategy of the future and helping to define the paths they will follow is a pleasurable challenge. It’s a group that was born with an innovative vision, at a time when little was said about design and sustainability in handicrafts, and which has always brought a differentiated product. I hope that the cooperative continues to evolve, achieving new goals and consolidating this legacy for many more years”, said Jussara.
The project aims to ensure that Cooperativa Gente de Fibra continues to be a benchmark, not only in design and sustainability but also as an example of success in cooperative and community entrepreneurship.
Around here, we continue to work to ensure that the cooperative further consolidates the legacy of innovation it has built up over the last 25 years.
