My view of South America ~ Brazil's small farmers make strides
By Bob Thomas, The Agri Traveller, Farms.com
It's a five hour drive inland from the town of Fortaleza to Escola Familiar Agricola (EFA) in Brazil. But it might as well be a world away. This small rural establishment in the drought prone interior of Brazil's Ceara state was originally founded with an inheritance from a Catholic Padre and is now providing 3 year agriculture courses to rural children from small, campesino farmers.
For the past 8 years, SHARE Agriculture Foundation, a Canadian based NGO has financed a 3 day meeting of small farmers from the 4 northeast states of Brazil to come together to compare methods and discuss production and marketing techniques. The event rotates annually between states and this year it was held at the EFA. About 140 attendees traveled up to 30 hours by bus to attend. The meeting started with jovial camaraderie and introductions amid much music, followed by more serious speeches on perma-culture and tours of the goat, cattle, beekeeping and other research projects at EFA.
Following the military dictatorship downfall and return to democracy, Brazil has had a Land Reform program since 1982 to allow an estimated several million small landless farmers to develop unoccupied or abandoned farms. Usually these lands (called Assentamentos) are inferior in quality and very remote. Today, the group toured Assentamento Juazeiro where 152 families took procession of 2800 ha (7000 acres) of hilly dry wasteland through the Reforma Agrairia Programa. The operation boasts a large dam and watershed, an apiary, cattle, goats and sheep as well as an innovative cottage industry of sausage production to add value to their meat production. They are basically self sufficient and contributing in a small way to society.
To arrive there, our group of 28 travelled in the back of a flatbed truck converted with rows of planks for seating'''a bumpy but raucous trip affording opportunities for much discussion and many singsongs.
A unique agri-feature on these lands is the mandalas: a concept derived from India whereby a central pond supports ducks and Tilapia fish, but also serves as an irrigation source for concentric rows of various vegetables and fruit trees.
It's a unique tropical bio-symbiotic concept rapidly gaining in popularity here among small farmers.
Unlike North American agriculture, Brazil has one government ministry for the large 'latifundio' farmers who are rapidly becoming world leaders in soy, beef and exports of other crops. Then there is the Family Agriculture Department which supports smaller family operations like the above. These campesinos will never attain an export status, but represent a self sustaining answer to feed the hungry poor and inhibit the migration of young people from the droughty northeast into Sao Paulo slums in search of non-existent jobs. Brazil's 190 million inhabitants have an income spread that is perhaps the most skewed in the western hemisphere''.a few extremely wealthy who control much of the land and other natural resources, but a large low income group who survive on a minimum salary of approximately $7 per day.
Land reform is an important issue for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who first won the Brazilian presidency in 2002, sparking jubilation among Brazil's 44 million poor. When elected, Lula promised to provide 400,000 families with land as part of agrarian reform. Many of the land reform achievements to date have been due to non-violent protests by Movimento Sem Terra (MST), a social movement born in 1984 in Parana state, but now encompassing 23 of Brazil's 27 states with support from 1.5 million people. In accordance with the Brazilian constitution, the federal government can expropriate and purchase unused land or property in tax arrears. In the past 3 years, 320,000 families have been awarded 65.5 million acres, but there are 171,000 still camped on roadsides awaiting the benefits of land reform while legal battles drag on year after year.
Once established, land reform settlements (known as Assentamentos) usually advance quite rapidly. Today, there are about 400 associations in the areas of production, marketing and services, 49 agricultural and cattle-raising cooperatives (CPA) with 2,299 families participating, 32 service cooperatives with 11,174 direct partners, two regional marketing cooperatives and 3 credit cooperatives with 6,521 members. And there are 96 small and medium-sized cooperatives that process fruit, vegetables, dairy products, grains, coffee, meat, and sweets. Such MST economic enterprises generate employment, income, and revenue that benefit about 700 small towns in Brazil's interior.
The campesino movement has not yet reached export potential, but it is helping to generate income and reduce the potential for political unrest. It's a program model that is emulated by neighbouring Bolivia and Venezuela. As SHARE's Brazilian Project Manager for the past 18 years, I have come to know many of these campesinos personally and feel privileged to be able to work in their world.
Later this week, I 'change hats' and leave Brazil bound for Chile where I will be joined by my Ag-Venture Tour group consisting of farmers from Canada and the USA. Chile has another success story for agriculture and I will update you as I travel.
Abracos (means embraces)
Bob
SHARE dairy projects show lasting results in small Belizean communities. Farmers in Arenal village (a small village on the Belize-Guatemala border) were helped by SHARE sponsorship to build fencing and dig ponds to contain their cows that were generously provided by SHARE. The projects in the village began 10 years ago and during the recent monitoring tour we had an opportunity to see them trotting past the school. While visiting the new school in the village, built by the Canadian Government via the Canadian High Commission in Belize, on land donated by the Belizean Government, we were pleased to see a healthy herd of Brahma-Holstein cross cattle being herded through town to their other pasture field. The SHARE cattle have improved the livelihood and prosperity of the group of farmers involved and the offspring appear to still be going strong.
From Belize - Katie Savage - Jan. 29/08