Man & two women walk down road toward babassu forest w/ baskets made of babassu fronds; Maranhao Brazil

Trucks climb hiway out of babassu palm forest--the tree of food, fuel & shelter for Maranhao poor Brazil

Woman totes babassu-frond basket full of babassu nuts atop head going home from grove; Maranhao Brazil

Babassu nuts sit in pile; nuts yield oil, feed, flour, charcoal, baby formula and soap; Maranhao Brazil

Bruchid beetle larva lives in babassu nut;fried larva tastes like bacon & is local treat; Maranhao Brazil

Bruchid beetle larva rests on man's palm; fried larva tastes like bacon & is local treat; Maranhao Brazil

Women open babassu nuts on ax blades;husk=charcoal, feed & flour; nut=oil,soap, baby milk;Maranhao Brazil

Women open babassu nuts on ax blades;husk=charcoal, feed & flour; nut=oil,soap, baby milk;Maranhao Brazil

Mother splits babassu nuts on ax blade in hut made of babassu as kids rest on nut pile; Maranhao Brazil

Man burns babassu husks for charcoal as kids sit on nut pile; huts are all of babassu;Maranhao Brazil

Woman stirs pot of crushed roasted babassu nuts on clay stove to make cooking oil & soap;Maranhao Brazil

Girl & boy gaze from door of babassu-thatch hut as women inside split open babassu nuts;Maranhao Brazil

Girl holding baby brother pauses @ door of babassu-thatch hut in rural, poverty-plagued; Maranhao Brazil

Man leads burro laden with babassu fronds, to be used for thatch, down highway back home; Maranhao Brazil

Boy snaps and twists back each leaf on babassu frond in order to weave into thatch roof; Maranhao Brazil

Boys pile babassu fronds into rows to prepare for rethatching of roofs on mud huts; Maranhao Brazil

Boy closes door to his 'babassu home'--walls & roof are made of the palm's fronds; Maranhao Brazil

Girl with basket in front of home; the basket & entire home are made of babassu fronds; Maranhao Brazil

Man lowers sunshade woven of babassu fronds on front window of his home in late pm; Maranhao Brazil

Sunshade woven of babassu fronds blocks late afternoon sunlight on window of mud hut in Maranhao Brazil

Detail of a window shade woven of babassu palm fronds on rural home in state of Maranhao Brazil

Wife leads way for husband riding burro laden w/ babassu fronds to use as garden mulch; Maranhao Brazil

Young cattle herder leans on staff as herd grazes in field full of babassu palms; Maranhao Brazil

Two little boys watch cattle feed from trough of babassu fronds; state of Maranhao Brazil

Captive macaws make a meal of babassu nuts left on ground inside cage at rural resort; Maranhao Brazil

Men shovel into mountain of nutshells at plant making charcoal from babassu husks; Teresina, PI Brazil

Man shoves babassu husks into factory hopper for drying before burning for charcoal; Piaui Brazil

Oil extracted from babassu nuts spews from spigots while man's hand holds glass of it; Sao Luis Brazil