Brazil’s Ministry of Agrarian Development believes that the 2nd Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, scheduled to take place next year in Porto Alegre, capital of the Brazilian southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, can reinstate this topic on the international agenda.
"This means reinstating on the international agenda the debate over agrarian reform and rural development as important elements of national development projects, especially in developing countries," observes the general coordinator of the Ministry’s Nucleus of Agrarian Studies and Social Development, Caio França.
França also thinks that the conference will provide an opportunity for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to regain a leading role in the debate over rural development.
For Rogério Mauro, a member of the national coordination of the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST), the international encounter will reinforce the idea that agrarian reform is a contemporary issue.
In his view, the neoliberal model "has not managed to resolve agrarian problems. To the contrary, it has aggravated the situation even more."
Since Wednesday, November 9, the Brazilian committee composed of eight representatives of federal government organs and 21 members of social movements and non-governmental organizations, together with the FAO, has been holding a preparatory meeting to discuss the proposals that Brazil plans to present at next year’s conference.
The event, which is taking place in the Ministry of Foreign Relations, in Brasília, ends today.
"We included in the programming a discussion of some recent international experiences, and we also introduced into the seminar the contributions of international experts on the topic," França affirmed.
Agência Brasil