Planting, sowing, clearing or preparing the land. Whatever the activity, it is undertaken by a group of people from the same community, through a joint effort. Muxirum is a centuries-old practice in traditional communities, carried out by quilombolas and indigenous peoples in Mato Grosso. It usually involves agricultural activities, but is not limited to those, or even to work. It also includes fun, singing, food, dancing and an exchange of ideas.
However, according to young Wender Carvalho, president of the Association of Small-scale Farmers from Pedra Preta (Associação dos Pequenos Produtores Rurais de Pedra Preta: APPRETA), in Chapada dos Guimarães (Mato Grosso), this tradition has been falling out of use. In order to revive the practice, particularly among rural youth from the Cuiabá lowlands, the association sought support from CESE’s Small Projects Programme to carry out the Youth Muxirum (Muxirum Jovem) project.
The initiative aims to value the communities’ traditional knowledge and their relationships with the land and the territory, as well as to encourage young people to stay in the countryside by encouraging agroecological production, among other things.