Brasil

For a sustainable agriculture

Osvaldo Russo

01/10/2013

Opinión

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The Company Planning of the Federal District (Codeplan in Portuguese) recently held a series of debates on agriculture and agrarian reform , with the participation of experts , technicians and representatives of rural social movements , which were addressed topics such as development, sustainability , poverty , political social , food , agribusiness , exports , family farms and settlements .

In addition to the ongoing social policies that reference the country in relation to the reduction of poverty and social inequalities, the Brazil without Poverty, implemented by the federal government, should include among its priorities the Agrarian Reform as a strategic tool for productive inclusion, reducing inequalities, ensuring food security and sustainable development in rural areas.

The agrarian reform , walking sumed, not exempt , however , the contest of public policies such as education , training , research, technical assistance , health, housing , social care and leisure . Thus, some actions , among others , should be prioritized for rural areas : maintenance and implementation of Rural Schools and creation of Reference Centres for Social Assistance (Cras in Portuguese) , in order to meet the demand of the rural population in their local housing and work, as well as public service organization for peasant agriculture .

In Brazil, land concentration is the highest in the world. According to the Brazilian Constitution (Article 5, paragraph XXIII), the property - all of it - must fulfill its social function, and the countryside is not restricted to their production function. The Constitution (art. 186) provides for the requirements of the social - economic, social and environmental - to be simultaneously obeyed by farms, otherwise susceptible to expropriation for social interest for agrarian reform, land with compensation paid in agrarian debt bonds.

On the other hand, were evidenced contraindications agricultural model focused on agribusiness point of view environmental and social and exhausted from the perspective of long-term economic agro. The use of pesticides and increased production and export commodities calls at the expense of food production begins to have detrimental effects to health, food security and sovereignty of the people.

Condemn Brazil to a mere exporter of primary goods is to follow the old colonial model, concentration of land and income. Rather, beyond National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf in Portuguese), which has focused on extending credit to small farmers already established , should also support and facilitate settlements , investing heavily in expanding and agro industrialization of agriculture to agribusiness family instead .

The profile of Brazilian agricultural production between 1990 and 2013 , has changed a lot: while this period, the production of soybeans and corn , together, increased by about 86 % , the production of rice, beans and wheat decreased , respectively, 14% to 6% , 4% and 6 % to 1.5 % to 2.3%. Agribusiness and ore are responsible for 68 % of Brazilian exports, which were to be based on adding value and knowledge and not on commercialization of our natural resources.

According to Gerson Teixeira, president of the Brazilian Association of Agrarian Reform, this can be explained by the higher prices of some commodities, the promise of agrofuels, the risks of food security and climate change, carbon markets and environmental reserves quotas and control of mineral resources. It further states that the maintenance of this trend, in relation to global demand and global warming, pointing to a collapse of the dominant agricultural model, which makes the model unsustainable agribusiness.

According to the Census (IBGE, 2010), the rural population accounts for 16 % of the population, with approximately a quarter live in extreme poverty. The social movements resist and fight not only for access to land and the conditions of production, but the conservation and preservation of the environment, for sustainable agriculture, healthy foods, for quality public education and raising the welfare of the population - rural and urban. It is therefore necessary to take this discussion to universities and society as a whole, in order to show that another model of agriculture is possible - with democracy, sustainable development and social equity.

- Osvaldo Russo is Director of Studies and Social Policy of the Company Planning of the Federal District (Codeplan in Portuguese). Former President of Brazilian National Institute of Settlement and Agrarian Reform (Incra in Portuguese).

Translated by Marcio Vieira, Press Advisor and Media, Olympic Public Authority, Brazil.

https://www.alainet.org/pt/node/79751?language=en