Strategic partnerships breathe life and hope into an impoverished community in Brazil In the semi-arid northeast of Brazil, the IFAD-supported Dom Helder Camara project works with local governments, farmers’ organizations, civil society associations and state companies to improve poor people’s living conditions. Together they have brought safe water to communities, opened new markets for their farm products, trained young people and adults, and helped women obtain identity documents.
Naelson Medeiros was born 28 years ago in Sombras Grandes, a small community in the vast ‘grey land’, as the Caatinga forest is calledbecause of the monochrome colours that dominate during the annual nine-month drought. For decades, Medeiros says, the only income sources for the 12 families living in the community were firewood they collected for charcoal production, temporary farm work in the few big local farms, and eventually migration to the cities. But the situation was continually deteriorating. “Firewood was getting scarce,” said Medeiros. “Stones were all we had and you could see people around breaking them to sell the gravel to building companies.” But in 2004, the Dom Helder Camaraproject came to Sombras Grandes and changed the situation dramatically.
The Dom Helder Camara project is the local name for IFAD’s Sustainable Development Project for Agrarian Reform Settlements in the Semi-Arid North-East of Brazil. Dom Helder Camara was a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, who had a deep commitment to the poor. The project area includes about 60 municipalities in a semi-arid zone extending across six states of the North-East region: Ceara, Paraiba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe. The municipalities were selected because of their high poverty rates and high concentration of agrarian reform settlements. The project area is among the most disadvantaged in the country in terms of access to housing, sanitation, education, health services and employment. Poor soils and severe cyclical droughts are major obstacles to agricultural productivity. Importantly, the project is already influencing public policies for rural development. “The Dom Helder Camara project is a major source of experiences for rural development public policies in Brazil,” says Guillerme Cassel, Brazil’s Minister of Agrarian Development, which is the executing agency for the project. Water improves incomes and health As part of its corporate social responsibility programme, Petrobras had already formed an alliance with the Brazilian National Food Security Programme, Fome Zero (Zero Hunger), called the Petrobras Zero Hunger Programme. The Dom Helder Camara project facilitated a new partnership with Sombras Grandes and the Petrobras Zero Hunger Programme. Petrobras visited Sombras Grandes and offered to refurbish wells they had dug in the past for use in oil drilling. They also agreed to donate basic infrastructure for the communities to build and maintain their own water pipes. In addition, the project agreed to train members of the farmers’ association to build their own community rainwater collectors. Today the community has been transformed. Sombras Grandes has changed from a dry grey desert into a lush green oasis. “Oil made a more precious liquid gush out for us: water,” says Medeiros, who is now the president of the Sombras Grandes farmers’ association. Access to water has brought many positive changes to the community, says Medeiros. “Our health is much improved,” he says. “We produce 15 different types of pesticide-free vegetables that we and the neighbouring communities have incorporated in our daily meals.”
Creating market links With the support of the municipalities, the project also helped farmers establish eight vegetable fairs in neighbouring communities. “These fairs are not only a source of cash for the farmers,” says Medeiros. “They are also fostering community life a lot. Before, people had to go to the city to buy food; now they have it right here, and it’s of much better quality.” Thanks to the project, young farmers such as Medeiros have better agricultural and small business management skills. They have also improved their quality standards and the way they present their merchandise. “We sell everything we bring to the market,” says Medeiros.
Empowering people, winning awards In 2004, the project launched a campaign to help women obtain identity cards and other documents that enable them to qualify for state benefits. A recent government survey revealed that 4.5 million rural workers in Brazil were undocumented, and 90 per cent of women in the northeast region had no worker’s book. The campaign has already helped 15,000 women have their citizenship recognized, which guarantees their access to services, credit and land tenure. “This successful experience is now being scaled up to the national level to promote rural women’s social and economic rights,” says Rufino. The housing and living conditions have also improved considerably, thanks to the support of national programmes such as “Light for All,” which brings energy to isolated communities like Sombras Grandes. The project has also taught people how to build brick structures as a substitute for the mud houses they have built in the past. In 2007, the Dom Helder Camara project in Sombras Grandes was awarded Brazil’s Best Rural Development Project. As President of Sombras Grandes farmers’ association, Medeiros collected the award from Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “This visit will remain in history,” says Medeiros. “We never thought that one day someone from our community could meet the President.” “It was very good because I could explain to him how the Dom Helder Camara project is working,” he says. “He knows the region very well because he was born here. I also met other farmers and artisans and it was a good exchange of experiences.” Transforming lives and landscapes “Before, we thought of this semi-arid region as a place where it is almost impossible to survive,” says Medeiros. “Today we have changed this idea and we see our land as full of potential. We are happy to see that it is worth investing and staying here. We do not need to migrate any more.” The rural youth component of the project has been one of the most successful. More than 700 young men and women have been trained in agriculture-related activities, in collaboration with local agrarian schools and farmers’ associations. Some of them have already become researchers and public servants in the local administration. Finally, says Medeiros, the community feels pride and sees hope for the future. “Now we know that we will not go back to where we were before,” he says. “We will be able to give a better future for our children, with access to the things that we never had. And this is very good. We are very grateful for these initiatives. Source: IFAD
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