Evidences of the sustainable innovation in the cashew agribusiness context in Ceará – Brazil

Abstract

The state of Ceará is the major Brazilian cashew producer and highlights the social and economical feature of its agribusiness, capable of generating wealth and assisting in people’s settlement in the countryside. Despite the support of several organizations which compose the local innovation system, seeking generation, adaptation and diffusion of innovations, the productive chain of cashew agribusiness lacks of innovations. In that context, it is assumed that the “sustainable innovation” would appear from the social-environmental management, stimulating, consequently, the local system. Based on this discussion, this paper contributes on the identification of innovation possibilities through the introduction of the Cleaner Production approach, contemplating on the mobilization of local system of Ceará’s cashew agribusiness. The qualitative methodology is based on the documental compilation and in interviews/debates with a group constituted by specialists who work in the sector. The analysis was performed using the Thematic Analysis technique, which belongs to the Analysis of Content techniques group. It was verified that the local system mobilization includes the increasing of interactions among participant agents, facilitating the spread of sustainable innovations from the complete use of cashew, enlarging, consequently, the economical spaces with new business and market opportunities.