The democratisation of access to land in Brazil between 2003-2015
Vicente P. M. de Azevedo Marques and Mauro Eduardo DelGrossi
Marques is agronomist at National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA), Brazil; DelGrossi is professor at the University of BrasÃlia (UnB), Brazil.
Please cite the paper as:
Vicente P. M. de Azevedo Marques and Mauro Eduardo DelGrossi, (2016), The democratisation of access to land in Brazil between 2003-2015, World Economics Association (WEA) Conferences, No. 2 2016, Food and Justice, 5th November to 15th December 2016
Abstract
The settlements of agrarian reform are substantial food producers in Brazil, especially of regionals products. Between 2003-2015, the Brazilian federal government has made a great effort to guarantee the fulfilment of constitutional rights and a dignified life for rural inhabitants. In the pursuit of democratising and granting access to land, as well as in related efforts to reduce violence in rural areas, land policies have been considerably amplified and better articulated with other public policies. These actions have produced concrete results, to which the more than 798,000 families settled in 52 million hectares of land since 2003. For many people, advances above were shy, considering the huge inequality in access to land in Brazil, but were much when you consider our history of agrarian policies. Nowadays, all these advances are under threat, considering the new government’s announcements of a new legal framework for agrarian reform, from the perspective of strong reduction in social investment by the federal government.
A few days ago, I got the news that the Florestan Fernandes National University of the Movement of Landless Workers (MST) was taken over by the military, sooting live rounds. This is extremely discouraging, given the central role that the MST has played in developing food production and inserting itself in the provision of food for schools. I wonder to what extent the gains achieved by Brazil since 2002 can be retained now that the rightist government is in power.
Gerardo Otero
Simon Fraser University
Vancouver, Canada
Dear Gerardo Otero
At this point we are not clear exactly what will happen in the future. We have news that a new package is being prepared for agrarian reform, but for now they are only vague statements, like to empty the role of the MST, circulated by the Brazilian media and which do not allows further analysis.
Mauro DelGrossi