Brazil advances land reform and rural credit
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
In Minas Gerais, Brazil, Minister Fernanda Machiaveli of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture (MDA) delivered land titles and announced new actions to support rural communities, particularly those impacted by the 2004 Felisburgo Massacre.
The government is creating the “Terra Prometida” settlement on the site of the massacre, a step towards fulfilling a commitment to land reform.
They also distributed initial land titles for families in the Campo do Meio area and are preparing to deliver titles to 457 more families from four quilombo communities by October 10. Machiaveli explained that since 2023, the federal government has included 266,000 families in the National Land Reform Program.
This includes 58,000 families settled on new projects, 117,000 families already recognized as beneficiaries of land reform (including quilombo communities and those on state-level settlements), and families whose situations are being regularized through updated family compositions. The minister emphasized a significant increase in resources for land reform, rising from 300 million reais in 2022 to a proposed 2 billion reais for the current year, plus an additional 1.7 billion reais for credit programs.
The MDA is also expanding access to credit for family farmers through the Plano Safra, with 8.5 billion reais allocated to Minas Gerais for the current harvest. This represents a doubling of credit available to the state’s family farmers compared to the previous four years.
The government is prioritizing adaptation to climate change through initiatives like the Plano Clima, which includes support for agroecological transition, water management, and restoration of degraded areas, with 400 million reais dedicated to the semi-arid region.
