We interviewed Domenico Abbate, ICEI Project Manager and Country Representative for Brazil. After working for ICEI from 2007 to 2010, he recently returned to our ranks to take charge of the Seeds of Hope project, which is being carried out in the Brazilian state of Ceará. The project is funded by CEI – Comunità Episcopale Italiana (Italian Episcopal Community) and was launched in the spring of 2025.
Domenico is a passionate member of ICEI, whose values revolve around one fundamental thing: giving those who live in difficult and vulnerable situations the opportunity for a better future. In this interview, we will see how much Domenico cares about spreading the message that change for the better is concretely possible:
‘Projects really change people’s lives; they are not romantic or fantastical. So, this is the most beautiful and important thing: giving people dignity and allowing them to live in a dignified and free manner.’
1. How did you come to work in this field?
This is a field that has always interested me greatly, ever since I was a teenager. At the time, I didn’t know how to identify it as “I want to work in international cooperation”, but I still wanted to do a job with a strong humanitarian component. I didn’t yet have a clear understanding of what development was, nor did I know the differences between the various types of cooperation, but one thing I always knew was my interest in geopolitics. Ever since secondary school, there was no subject I felt stronger about than human geography: for me, it wasn’t studying, it was a passion. I remember reading il Manifesto a lot during those years, where I found an image of a hand in a supermarket, choosing a product, as if it were pulling the trigger of a gun. Because that choice, however small, is linked to consequences that can occur thousands of kilometres away. This awareness has always fascinated me: understanding how our micro-actions, such as choosing one product over another, can have a huge, even dangerous impact if we are not careful.
That’s why, even as a teenager, I tried to be mindful of my daily actions, avoiding certain purchases or behaviours. But at a certain point, I felt that it wasn’t enough: I wanted to see if it was possible to do something in the field. So I went from curiosity and information to a decision: ‘No, I want to go there.’
2. What prompted you to collaborate with ICEI?
With ICEI, it was a combination of two factors: on the one hand, luck, and on the other, my interest in what ICEI was doing in relation to other NGOs. It was during a trip to Mali that I unexpectedly met someone who worked in the world of cooperation, and so it was there that I was able to understand which were the best master’s degrees, which was the best path to take, and a whole range of information that was invaluable to me. In fact, at the time, I was about to choose what to study to deepen my knowledge, given that I have a background in law, which is certainly very useful for the work I do; however, I was lacking all that training in development. So this person gave me a whole series of recommendations on master’s degrees to do in order to work in cooperation, including one from the University of Milan that was more oriented towards working in NGOs. When she told me about it, I said to myself, “Wow, this is it, this is what I want to do”. So I did this master’s degree, which included an internship abroad, with a range of projects and NGOs to choose from. However, instead of choosing one of the master’s degree options, I went to the ICEI headquarters and asked to do an internship on one of their projects in the Amazon that I was very interested in. ICEI caught my attention because, although it was not a very large NGO, I was very impressed by how focused they were on development, but development in the concrete sense. It was not simply humanitarian aid, which is fundamental, but does not solve the root problems; no, at ICEI, we deal with effective development, working mainly in the field of agriculture; in short, we help with the development of everything that affects food production processes, which are obviously very important.
3. What exactly do you do in the project?
As far as the Seeds of Hope project is concerned, I am the project manager/project leader, so I am responsible for organising activities with local partners, financial planning, reporting, managing any issues that may arise between the various partners or between the partners and technicians, and then, of course, I am responsible for all interaction with Italy, i.e. with ICEI headquarters. In short, I would say that this job also means acting as a bit of a psychologist at times, like anyone who has to coordinate between different groups of people.
4. What are the main activities and objectives of the project?
The main objective of this project is the implementation of agroforestry systems, i.e. forms of cultivation that focus on increasing land productivity, but without considering nature as something to be constantly fought against, but rather as a partner: if you ensure that more species are cultivated together, there is no longer any need to use pesticides, soil moisture increases and the need for irrigation is reduced, the soil becomes more nutritious and fertilisers are no longer needed, soil erosion decreases, etc. … This is because the plants help each other, it is as if a team is being built to work together with the farmers. This is the main part of the programme, but there are also complementary activities. One of these, aimed primarily at women, is carried out in the quintão of the house, a garden normally located behind the house, where a small agricultural production system is managed. In a semi-arid climate such as this, it is a useful space for growing vegetables and promoting healthy eating, normally intended for those with greater purchasing power, as it is too expensive for the majority of the local population. We also have family fish farming systems in tanks whose water is used to grow plants; as it is full of organic residues produced by the fish, it is very fertile, thus providing healthy nutrition through farmed fish and the use of nutrient-rich water for vegetables in a semi-arid environment where water is scarce. We also take care of worm farms, which are important for fertilising the soil and can be sold, together with the soil they fertilise, in addition to being used directly. Among other things, we implement the breeding of local bees that are at risk of extinction due to the use of pesticides and competition with non-native bees imported from Europe. Finally, we provide training for mothers and children to promote healthy and natural eating, because in contexts where the only/main sources of information for the local population are television and radio, which, through advertising of ultra-processed products, promising happiness and well-being to those who consume them, taking advantage of the fact that the veracity of such information would be attested to by the medium through which it is conveyed, i.e. the formal media controlled by the competent authorities, thus giving these misleading messages the idea of reliable, duly verified information: “if it’s on TV, it must be true”.
5. Tell us about a significant moment you experienced during the project.
I think the greatest happiness was when I found myself in front of the project’s beneficiaries for the first time after its approval, to organise the start of activities. In fact, for any project, every time this happens, you realise one thing: that what for me has been years of studying, listening and writing is, for them, real life. For them, it means a real opportunity to change their lives and do meaningful work. Why do I say this? Because if, thanks to the project, a woman can stay in her home surrounded by nature – not limited to the role of housewife, but free to take care of her children as is very much the norm here in Brazil – and at the same time have autonomy and dignity, then she is offered the opportunity to do something that gives her satisfaction and, at the same time, makes her independent and free. In this way, she is not forced into alienating work or dependent on the “man of the house”. . It is here that you realise that yes, projects really do change people’s lives: they are not romantic dreams or fantasies. And this is the most beautiful and important thing: giving dignity and allowing people to live in a dignified and free way.
6. How do you collaborate with the local community? Are you able to make direct contact?
A direct relationship with the local community is essential: only those who live there every day truly know the needs, desires, rules and relationships of that context. That is why it is so important to be with them, to write projects in a participatory way and to always ask for their opinion before making decisions that, based on our information, may seem right to us but may not meet their real needs. It is the communities themselves that must say what they need.
7. What impact do you see ICEI projects having on the local area?
The impact of ICEI projects on the local area is considerable, and it is an important impact because it goes against the grain. For example, intensive agriculture today says that fertilisers must be used because the soil is poor and without them it is not possible to produce crops. Or it is said that monocultures must be cultivated because it is much easier to grow a single species of plant in a field. Instead, the ICEI model says: no, there is no need for fertilisers if you do not grow monocultures; rather, put all the plants together because they help each other and the soil is automatically more fertile. Furthermore, this type of intensive agriculture, which is widespread today, is unsustainable for small farmers, and so more and more people are leaving the fields because it is not profitable, which is obviously very convenient for large companies; however, farming organically means that small farmers do not have to compete with these giants. Therefore, all ICEI projects that deal with agriculture and the establishment of agroforestry systems have this very important impact of not only promoting nutritious, healthy and environmentally friendly food, but also enabling those involved in the project to have a better, happier and more dignified life; an impact that is essentially environmental, economic and social.
8. One word that represents the meaning of this work for you Change.
Positive change, of course. This is because being an agent of positive change is, in my opinion, the most important thing. It is also important to be aware that these things work, they really work and they change people’s lives.
