heks

Brazil is a land of continental proportions with unique ecosystems like the Amazon basin and the tropical grassland savannah of the cerrado. However, the biodiversity and cultural distinctiveness of the country is under increasing threat from the spread of large-scale soya, sugar-cane and eucalyptus plantations and extensive cattle breeding. In addition to the environmental problems caused by widespread deforestation, the social problems have also become much worse, most notably through dispossession and conflicts over land. Families which have been living on their land for generations, but many of whom have no deeds of land ownership, are being systematically driven out by large landowners and by national and multinational companies.

Brazil is a country of extreme social and economic inequalities. According to government statistics, a third of the 186 million inhabitants live below the poverty line. The gap between rich and poor is also linked with regional differences and the discrimination of large sections of the population. Poverty afflicts 60 per cent of the rural population. Afro-Brazilians and indigenous peoples generally have fewer educational opportunities, inferior living conditions and a lower income. One of the main causes of hunger and poverty is the unfair distribution of the land. The concentration of land has increased even more in the last few years, with 4.8 million Brazilian families not owning any land while over 85 million hectares are in the hands of some 4000 large landowners. In the last 10 years over one million agricultural smallholders have been forced out of business.

The living conditions of the poorest may have improved thanks to the social policy adopted by the Brazilian government under President Lula da Silva, but the structures which cause the poverty in the first place have been left largely intact. The agrarian reform process has virtually ground to a halt.

HEKS has been working in Brazil since the 1980s. Following the overthrow of the dictatorship, the aid organisation responded to the call of the ecumenical churches to endorse the “preferential option for the poor”, an ideal born out of liberation theology. From the outset HEKS concentrated its focus on rural development, i.e. access to land and water, food security and the support of rural community-based organisations, and on the prevention of violence through informal education in the work with children and young people.

Aims, points of focus, initiatives:

In terms of its geographic focus HEKS concentrates on two regions, namely the state of Para in the north of Brazil and the cerrado region in Central Brazil. In terms of its work, it is mainly concerned with supporting rural communities and developing a strong civil society.

The overarching aims of the programme are to improve the food situation and the income of rural communities and to strengthen rural organisations with particular regard to young people and women.

The programme of initiatives includes the following:

• Access to resources: Support for the non-violent struggle for a fairer distribution of land, access to water and production equipment, and assertion of cultural and territorial rights on behalf of traditional people groups.
• Organic farming: Training of smallholders in sustainable farming (soil and water conservation strategies, production of traditional seeds, cultivation of organic vegetables and grain crops, agroforestry). Collaboration with agricultural research institutes and universities.
• Promotion of value-added chains: Food production, processing and marketing (such as native fruits, medicinal plants and honey), arts and crafts, development of production and marketing units and fair trade structures.
• Development of civil society: Leadership training for young men and women to encourage social role models, advice for institutions and encouragement for welfare organisations, such as the landless workers’ movement, regional and national networking.
• Lobbying and advocacy: Demanding of economic, social, cultural and civil rights. Wielding of political influence with a view to making changes to land tenure and power structures.