In Question: The Agrarian Reform Model

In Question: The Agrarian Reform Model
Published in Jornal Brasil de Fato

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Conference organized by FAO, in Porto Alegre, promises to divide governments and social movements beginning March the 6th.

After almost 30 years without debate, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN-FAO) will come together at the international level to discuss agrarian reform. The 2nd International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development will take place in Brazil, city of Porto Alegre, from the 6th to the 10th of March. In the official conference, and in the parallel forum being held on the streets, an appropriate model for agrarian reform will be decided. The event is likely to place two stakeholders on opposing sides: governments and the social movements.

Just the decision to hold the conference in the city of Porto Algere, state of Rio Gande do Sul, has been a polemic decision. The Minister of Agrarian Development (MDA) affirms that the choice was made after recognizing the cities role as host during previous World Social Forums (WSF). But some question this view. “Rio Grande do Sul is home to one of the worst agrarian reform implementations in the last four years. We’ve had less than 200 families settled on lands, and we still have roughly 2,600 families currently living in encampments. What model of agrarian reform will delegates see here?‿ asked Cedenir de Oliveira of the MST’s Rio Grande do Sul state coordinating body.

The divide between the agrarian reform models implemented by the federal government – prioritizing settlement of the legal Amazon and re-settlement in deserted land reform projects – and the model promoted by the social movements – insisting that the families living in encampments be settled immediately, and that expropriations take place in order to meet the goals of the National Plan for Agrarian Reform – is just one of the disputes that will take place during the conference.

Another issue of contention stressed by social movements worldwide, organized by the Via Campesina, is the influence of entities like the World Bank (WB) in agrarian reform policies. The WB imposes its will on developing countries, forcing them to implement public policies such as the ‘Land Bank’. “What the World Bank defends is the removal of the entire social question from agrarian reform, transforming the question into one of the market, transforming land into a commodity, and making access to land only for those who can afford it‿, affirmed the MST’s Oliveira.

In the official conference, only governments will participate. Civil society, including social movements and NGO’s, is organizing a parallel conference at the same place and time. Also, close to 2,000 peasants affiliated with the Via Campesina will set up encampments in Porto Alegre to protest the slow pace of agrarian reform in Brazil, and to defend an agrarian reform model that is socially sustainable and economically viable. The same period will include massive mobilizations, since it corresponds with International Women’s Day on March the 8th.

Note: FAO stands for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The agency was created by the Brazilian geographer, Josué de Castro, who dedicated his life to the fight against hunger and the concentration of land in the hands of a few. Castro was also the first president of the FAO. In recent years, the FAO has taken positions that are harmful to peasants, such as the promotion of transgenic crops and public policies encouraged by the World Bank.

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In Portuguese –
The above article is available in its original form by visiting:
http://www.brasildefato.com.br/v01/agencia/nacional/news_item.2006-02-13.7025130200