Watch How Açai is Harvested and Changing Lives in the Amazon!

While the demands of agriculture and the needs of natural environments are often at odds, a group of farmers in the Bolivian Amazon have developed a symbiotic relationship with the surrounding rainforest. These farmers harvest açai, the "superfood" only recently popularized in the United States. Açai grows wild in the Amazon, and the farmers who gather it are deeply protective of the rainforst that provides their livelihood.

It is a case in which helping the environment is the same thing as helping the local economy, a dynamic that Heifer is eager to encourage and replicate. Watch the video above to see how farmers find and harvest this elusive fruit (not a task for the faint of heart!) and learn how Heifer helped the community earn more for their efforts. Learn more at Heifer.org.

0:00 Journey into the jungle
0:40 Identifying an açai tree that's ready to harvest
1:05 Climbing an açai tree
1:36 Descending the tree with açai
1:45 Removing and bagging açai berries
2:08 Leaving the jungle
2:40 The açai processing plant history
2:55 Açai cooperative gathering
3:08 Making açai pulp
3:26 Protecting the Amazon jungle