Brazil’s Minister of Agrarian Development, Miguel Rossetto, says that two Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration programs, the Family Farm Insurance and Harvest Guarantee, have been great successes.
Rossetto points out that the insurance program, which began last year, already has 500,000 families enrolled. As for the guarantee program, it is aimed at farmers in the semi-arid region of Brazil and has been operational for three years.
“We have some 200,000 families enrolled,” said the Minister, adding that the Lula government considers agriculture, and especially family farming, to be a priority.
Rossetto explained that the two programs have received important input from Spain, which has a lot of experience with farm insurance and climatic problems.
Brazil and Spain have a partnership agreement in the agriculture sector set up by presidents Lula and José Luis Zapatero.
Rossetto made his comments at an international seminar on farm insurance in emergencies (Seminário Internacional sobre Seguro de Emergência e Seguro Agrícola) which was attended by 140 representatives from Spain, Mercosur, the UN food program, social movements and farm associations.
The seminar began on Wednesday (June 29) and will run until tomorrow, July 2, in Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state.
ABr – www.radiobras.gov.br
