- Restaurants at COP30, the UN climate change conference, are sourcing at least 30% of all their ingredients from family farmers and Indigenous and agroecological producers in Pará, Brazil.
- Using public procurement to connect farmers with stable markets is seen as one way to strengthen climate resilience.
- Experts, however, say that very little of climate finance reaches small producers directly.
Ana Clara Brandão, an 18-year-old physiotherapy student from the Brazilian state of Pará, is spending her days working at Delícias Quilombolas, a family-run food stall that drew some of the longest queues at COP30’s Blue Zone, the secured, official venue for the ongoing UN climate conference.
Her colleague Emily, 20, also a student, explained the foods laid out in trays and baskets. She said they were serving açaí, biscuits made with Brazil nut, jambu herb and cupuaçu fruit, tapioca with egg and coconut milk, and regional juices prepared from cupuaçu, cacao and acerola. She said these were everyday flavours in Pará but unfamiliar to many delegates at COP30.
In the run up to the COP30 which saw visitors from all over the world, the Brazil government put out a public procurement notice requiring restaurants inside the COP30 venue to source at least 30% of their ingredients from family farmers, Indigenous communities, traditional populations and agroecological networks. The sourcing rule was written into a public procurement notice after more than a year of discussion between the government and sustainable food advocates.
Na Mesa da COP30, a coalition of over 40 Brazilian organisations, coordinated the mapping of producers and the dialogue with public authorities. Speaking to Mongabay-India, Monica Souza from Comida do Amanhã, one of the organisations leading the coalition, said, “Since Belém was announced as the COP host, we have worked with the government and the UN to map cooperatives and farmers networks so that the food served here is recognised as climate action.”
She said the requirement for restaurants to prove 30% sourcing from family farming follows Brazil’s public food programmes. “Family farming includes Indigenous peoples, traditional communities and agrarian reform settlers. The public notice also encourages cooperatives, women-led groups and youth. We expect at least 3.3 million real (Brazilian currency) in income to reach these producers. For many, this visibility can open new markets after the COP ends.” She said they will release a report with the World Food Programme documenting how the sourcing worked in practice.
Instituto Regenera, another organisation leading the coalition, has been working with agroecological networks in Belém since 2020. Fabricio Muriana, co-founder of the institute, said his group works on the demand side of food systems. They identify communities, map retail options and create new markets for family farming.
He said the idea of supplying food at the COP emerged after the Amazon Summit in 2023, a meeting of Amazonian countries to protect the rainforest. “Farmers participated in a small fair at that event and asked why they had not been invited to feed the meeting. That question sparked the campaign.”
A national legal framework for local sourcing
One of the cooperatives supplying food to COP30 is COOPABEN, based in Benevides near Belém. A representative of the cooperative said, “We prepared a list of products and prices and uploaded it to the COP30 website. Someone saw it and contacted us, and the visibility has been very positive for all our members.”
They added that family farmers still need better market access and basic infrastructure support. “We work without harming the environment, without burning and without chemical inputs,” the representative said, noting that COOPABEN has permits to start a small agro-industry but lacks the cold-storage facilities required to expand production.
Brazil has several public policies that support small farmers, including school meal procurement and institutional food purchases. These policies require public entities to buy a share of their food from family farmers. Thales Mendonça, a member of the Intercontinental Network of Organic Farmers Organisations, said that the policy context helped create the model used at COP30.
“Family farming in Brazil has a legal definition. More than 50% of the income must come from farming and there are limits on land size and number of employees. Being classified as a family farmer gives access to programmes that support production and sales,” he said.
Mendonça said changing food systems is central to Brazil’s climate agenda. He said agriculture and land-use change together make up the largest share of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions, driven by deforestation, cattle production and commodity crops.
Financing remains a key gap
Climate finance experts say that although procurement models can create opportunities, family farmers still lack direct access to funds. Speaking at the venue, Haseeb Bakhtary of Climate Focus said usually small producers remain outside climate finance structures. Bakhtary is a climate finance specialist who works on global climate policy, carbon markets and the flow of international climate finance to developing countries.
He said only a very small share of international public climate finance reaches small farmers directly, and that they are still treated mainly as beneficiaries rather than participants in planning or decision making. He added that public procurement, as used at COP30, is one way to support rural producers, but that farmers and cooperatives also need access to policy discussions and predictable financing.
A larger political moment for the Amazon
Experts say such sourcing models could be strengthened further if countries align procurement with climate goals. Speaking at COP30, Giriraj Amarnath, Principal Researcher for Climate Resilience at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), said: “COP30 shows how climate action can start on our plates. By sourcing food from Pará’s family farmers and Indigenous producers, it links global ambition with local resilience. India and the Global South can adopt similar mandates, supporting smallholders, cooperatives and agroecological diets with lower carbon footprints.”
Several organisers said the experiment could influence future conferences. Muriana of Instituto Regenera said the model is possible in other countries if they build on existing frameworks. “You need to start from the most sustainable sourcing system in your country. It is easier to adapt an existing public policy than to create a new one,” he said.
The sourcing of food at COP30 is part of a broader effort to foreground Amazonian priorities during the summit. Civil society groups are holding parallel events, including the People’s Summit, to highlight the role of local communities in protecting forests and producing food.
At the Blue Zone, the constant queue at Delícias Quilombolas reflected the interest in local food. Delegates stopped to ask about the dishes, the farmers and the stories behind them. Brandão said she hopes the attention will translate into lasting recognition for producers. “The forest is protected by people who live in it. They deserve more visibility and more respect,” she said.
Read more: Brazil climate summit confronts gap between finance goals and reality
Banner image: Ana Clara Brandão, her colleague Emily and the rest of the team serve traditional Amazonian food at the family-run stall Delícias Quilombolas inside in the COP30 Blue Zone in Belém, where small producers and community-led kitchens are supplying part of the summit’s meals. Image by Manish Chandra Mishra.
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