The Environmental Migrants of Brazil

by Shayna Harris

We met with Omar Rocha today in Recife, Brazil.  Omar's a PhD and coordinator of the Project to Construct a Sustainable Sertao.  He told us that for years northeastern Brazil bled migrants to the south of the country.  Not just any type of migrants, but 'environmental migrants,' a term which I hadn't heard before.  You see, the sertao region is one of the dryest and poorest in the world.  The two main problems here for farmers?  Access to land and access to water.  Omar said that for the region's 2 million small farmers:

"These small farmers live in the worst conditions in the world, with an incredibly low HDI ranking... they have no services, no infrastructure, no water due to droughts, and the land is not so fertile."

These farmers are the descendants of the marginalized, including Brazil's African slaves who escaped from the fertile coast to gain freedom in the sertao, and of Brazil's indigenous people.   Omar said that "to live from agriculture is to be a slave...slavery was transferred to the small farm, where produce was sold to middlemen, there was no money, and farmers were heavily exploited."  After trying to farm in the region, many migrated outside of the northeast for work due to terrible environmental conditions.  Hence, environmental migrants.

Then who on earth would anyone farm here?  The Brazilians in agriculture whom we met in the South of the country last week definitely do NOT understand this, and have many prejudices of the people of this region.  But Omar says that the need for environmental migration is changing.  There are a plethora of pro-poor, inexpensive 'social technologies' for water capture (like the Million Cisterns project), for drip irrigation, and for underground agricultural dams to hold water and keep the sertao green.  The cisterns each hold 18,000 liters of water, which is enough water to get farmers through the 8 dry months a year that they experience on their farms.

Omar also talked about the rising movement for agroecology (encompassing ~5% of the regions farmers), which, "is a culture, not just an agricultural practice... agroecology is building  a new small farmer in Brazil... to be a small farmer is now a great profession."  More on this early next week, and straight from agroecological farms in the Brazilian sertao.

Comments

[irrigation systems]

Brazil has a great agriculture methods. Take a look on Brazilian import, or even search for the right show in NEO-G or something.

It's quite interesting that they use ancient methods, using their great and mixed nature and atmosphere, and also using up-to-date futuristic agriculture techniques..