Centro de Estudos e Promoção da Agricultura de Grupo

What Centro de Estudos e Promoção da Agricultura de Grupo does

Centro de Estudos e Promoção da Agricultura de Grupo (CEPAGRO) is a Brazilian non-profit civil society organization (ONG) headquartered at the Centro de Ciências Agrárias of Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina. Founded in 1990 by family farmer organizations and technicians seeking to build local productive networks, Cepagro operates with a multidisciplinary team of approximately seven staff and focuses on promoting agroecology across rural communities, urban communities, and indigenous Guarani territories in Southern Brazil.

The organization's offerings span five operational lines: urban agriculture, sustainable rural development, agroecological education, waste management and composting, and political advocacy, with supporting services including technical composting advisory, participatory certification systems (SPG), and academic research collaboration with UFSC. Its product surface consists of multilingual educational publications, video series, project-based programs (e.g., 'Saberes na Prática em Rede', 'Tekoás Agroecológicas'), composting advisory services, and capacity-building workshops. The technology base is methodological rather than digital: it comprises the Método UFSC composting protocol, participatory guarantee systems, and urban agriculture curricula delivered through publications, video lessons, and in-person exchanges.

CEPAGRO's business model is grant-funded non-profit operation, not commercial revenue generation. Funding flows from international foundations (Inter-American Foundation, Misereor, Conservation Food & Health Foundation), religious institutes (Instituto das Irmãs da Santa Cruz), corporate philanthropy (Instituto MRV), community foundations (ICOM), Brazilian federal/local government programs, and international academic bodies. It serves a beneficiary base of family farmers, indigenous Guarani communities, urban families, migrants, schools, and social assistance centers across 18 municipalities in Santa Catarina, with a research footprint extending to seven Latin American countries. Distribution is community- and event-driven: workshops, seed fairs, organic farmers' markets, school gardens, and direct technical assistance rather than commercial channels.

Name

Centro de Estudos e Promoção da Agricultura de Grupo

Legal name

CEPAGRO – Centro de Estudos e Promoção da Agricultura de Grupo

Website

https://cepagro.org.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CEPAGRO is a Brazilian non-profit NGO founded in 1990 that promotes agroecology through education, technical advisory, composting services, and network-based projects serving family farmers, indigenous Guarani communities, urban families, migrants, and schools across Santa Catarina and Latin America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Development Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Soil Preparation, Planting, and Cultivating (115112)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYAFAMAMAF

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) Program Development & Administration

Agriculture & Food Production/Forestry & Logging/Forest Ecosystem Services

Keywords

• Agroecology promotion
• Organic farming
• Composting advisory
• Urban agriculture
• Rural development

Headquarters

HQ city

Florianópolis

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants and Donations: As a non-profit organization (ONG), Cepagro operates primarily through grants, donations, and project funding from national and international foundations and development agencies.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Cepagro is a non-governmental organization (ONG) that promotes agroecology in rural and urban communities and indigenous territories through network articulation, political advocacy, communication, education, and technical assistance. Its core deliverables include technical advisory on organic waste composting (Assessoria em Compostagem), agroecological education programs, participatory research, and support for community-led organic production and certification networks such as Rede Ecovida.

Product overview

Cepagro is a non-profit organization (ONG) focused on agroecology promotion, not a technology product company. Its offerings consist of educational publications (cartilhas and books on agroecology, composting, urban agriculture, and food security), video series (such as 'Engenho é Patrimônio', 'Vidas Agroecológicas', and 'Saberes na Prática em Rede'), agricultural development projects (including 'Agroecologia na América Latina: construindo caminhos' and 'Tekoás Agroecológicas'), composting advisory services, and academic research support in partnership with UFSC. The portfolio centers on knowledge dissemination, community capacity building, and sustainable agriculture practices rather than commercial software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Assessoria em Compostagem (Composting Advisory)

Quantifiable outcome

• Participatory research collected data from 527 farming families across 7 Latin American countries
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• University of British Columbia (UBC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021International academic partnership for the 'Agroecology in Latin America: building paths' participatory research project involving 10 organizations and 527 farming families across 7 countries.
• Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1990Cepagro is headquartered at UFSC's Centro de Ciências Agrárias and maintains ongoing academic partnerships for research, extension projects, and student involvement in agroecological initiatives.
• Rede Ecovida de AgroecologiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCepagro serves as advisory organization to the Litoral Catarinense Nucleus of Rede Ecovida, a network of over 4,000 farming families in Southern Brazil engaged in agroecological production and participatory certification.
• CETAP (Centro de Tecnologias Alternativas Populares)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner NGO in Rio Grande do Sul collaborating on the 'Consumidores e Agricultores em Rede' project and agroecological network building.
• AS-PTA AgroecologiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner NGO in Paraná collaborating on Misereor-funded network project and seed fairs for agroecological seed preservation.
• Centro Vianei de Educação PopularcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner NGO in Santa Catarina collaborating on the Southern Brazil agroecological network and solidarity actions.
• Secretaria Especial de Saúde Indígena (SESAI)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partner for health and agricultural support to indigenous communities, including COVID-19 prevention measures.
• FUNAI (Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas)majorOthersNational indigenous peoples foundation involved in Guarani community support and land regularization efforts.
• Rede Nacional de Semillas Nativas y Criollas (Uruguay)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational network from Uruguay for seed preservation and exchange, with 140 family properties organized in 21 local groups.
• Ministério do Meio AmbienteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment ministry that collaborated on the Manual de Compostagem for domestic, community, and institutional organic waste management.
• Sesc/SCminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Sesc Santa Catarina for composting experiences in their units and community initiatives.
• REAF/Mercosur (Reunião Especializada sobre Agricultura Familiar)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialized meeting on family farming within Mercosur, in partnership with FIDA/FAO, for agroecology policy development.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• IFOAM - Organics International: Global umbrella organization for the organic agriculture movement setting participatory guarantee and certification standards. Broader incumbent whose SPG frameworks underpin Cepagro's participatory certification methodology.
• EMBRAPA: Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation — federal entity conducting agricultural research and technology transfer. Broader incumbent shaping agroecology and sustainable agriculture policy/knowledge in Brazil alongside smaller NGOs like Cepagro.
• Instituto Socioambiental (ISA): Major Brazilian socio-environmental NGO working on indigenous rights, environmental policy, and biodiversity. Broader incumbent with overlapping indigenous community partnerships (e.g., Guarani territories) and policy advocacy model.
• Heifer International: Global development organization promoting agroecology, sustainable farming, and food sovereignty with extensive Latin American programs. Broader incumbent operating at much larger scale on adjacent themes.
• Rede Ecovida de Agroecologia: Network of 4,000+ farming families across Southern Brazil engaged in agroecological production and participatory certification, for which Cepagro is an advisory organization. Larger incumbent with overlapping SPG certification methodology and farmer network.

Direct peers

• AS-PTA Agroecologia: Brazilian NGO headquartered in Paraná focused on agroecology promotion, family farmer technical assistance, and seed fairs. A direct comparable: named partner of Cepagro on Misereor-funded network projects and shares the agroecology-education mission.
• CETAP (Centro de Tecnologias Alternativas Populares): Rio Grande do Sul NGO providing alternative agricultural technologies and family farmer support. Direct peer: Cepagro partner on the 'Consumidores e Agricultores em Rede' project with comparable agroecology advisory model.
• Instituto Comunitário da Grande Florianópolis (ICOM): Florianópolis-based community foundation that has provided emergency funding to Cepagro's Guarani village reconstruction work. Direct peer in regional community-development grantmaking and Santa Catarina social impact ecosystem.
• Centro Vianei de Educação Popular: Santa Catarina-based NGO working on sustainable rural development and solidarity actions in Southern Brazil. Direct peer: documented Cepagro partner on agroecological network-building with overlapping farmer and indigenous community constituencies.

Emerging players

• Slow Food Brasil: Brazilian arm of the global Slow Food movement promoting good, clean, and fair food. Emerging player with overlapping CSA, farmers market, and food-sovereignty focus but more consumer-brand orientation than Cepagro's farmer-training approach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/Cepagro
• Facebookfacebook.com/cepagro
• Instagraminstagram.com/cepagro_agroecologia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cepagro-agroecologia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Centro de Estudos e Promoção da Agricultura de Grupo