The UN has called on Brazil to be the world's main food supplier over the next twenty years. Currently, 70% of the food consumed here is produced by small and medium-sized farmers. This group employs 77% of the workforce in rural areas and owns 90% of registered properties. On the other hand, when we measure territorial extension and revenue, the numbers are reversed: small and medium-sized producers occupy 24.3% of the rural area and account for 40% of the Gross Value of Production, according to the IBGE.
Despite the contradictions, the participation of these producers is essential for the country to overcome the challenge of expanding food production for domestic and foreign markets on a large scale, as well as to reduce the environmental impact of rural activities. It is estimated that food production needs to increase by 60% by 2030 to ensure the supply of the global population.
It will not be an easy task. In order to achieve this increase, achieve good levels of productivity and reduce environmental impacts, small and medium-sized farmers will need financial support and access to new technologies. Only then will they be able to overcome the challenges imposed, especially in the adverse environmental conditions seen today: increased occurrence of droughts and floods, almost always related to climate change; loss of natural pollinators due to deforestation; erosion and loss of soil fertility. If nothing is done, the environmental impacts will affect business, leading to the flight of labor from the countryside and increased pressure on urban centers.
The negative impacts are already being measured. According to the Climate Observatory's Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimation System, Brazilian agricultural production was directly and indirectly responsible for approximately 60% of the country's CO2 and equivalent emissions between 1990 and 2012. As a result of climate problems, researchers at Embrapa estimate that Brazilian agriculture suffered a loss of R$ 10 billion in the 2013 harvest alone.
O Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS), with the support of the UN Global Compact, has just released the publication “Financing for Small and Medium-sized Rural Producers”. The study shows small and medium-sized producers options on where and how to obtain financing to expand their production, improve their quality of life, manage the environmental management of their property to comply with legal requirements and, at the same time, contribute to making the production system less impactful to the environment.
According to the publication, there is no shortage of opportunities to help small landowners make a qualitative leap forward by entering little-known market niches. Financing is available for the adoption of a series of initiatives in the field, such as the implementation of technologies aimed at organic agriculture and livestock farming, planting of commercial forests, integrated crop-livestock-forestry (iLPF), direct planting systems, and the treatment and use of animal waste. These are modalities that are part of what has been called Low Carbon Agriculture (ABC).
The publication addressed to small and medium-sized rural producers reinforces the fundamental role of private and state financial institutions, and highlights the importance of technical knowledge to promote and scale up initiatives aimed at sustainability.
As a result of climate problems, researchers at Embrapa estimate that Brazilian agriculture suffered a loss of R$10 billion in the 2013 harvest alone.
