The Brazilian Minister of Agrarian Development, Miguel Rossetto, has officially launched preparations for the 2nd International Conference on Land Reform and Rural Development, promoted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), scheduled for 7 to 10 March 2006, in Porto Alegre, in the southernmost state of Brazil.
According to Rossetto, the meeting will discuss access to land and water, sustainable development, the Millennium Goals, food sovereignty, professional training for rural inhabitants and the revitalization of rural communities.
"The choice of Brazil to host this international event is recognition of the federal government’s concentrated efforts to combat poverty and social inequality… It shows that Brazil has become a reference center on the subject of land reform," said the Minister.
It is expected that 1,500 delegates from 150 countries will attend the event, among them the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, the director general of FAO, Jacques Diouf, the president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Lennart Bage, and the executive director of the World Food Program, James Morris.
ABr