The Our First Land project, part of Brazil’s Ministry of Agrarian Development’s National Rural Credit program, should benefit 5 thousand young people between the ages of 18 and 24 this year, in the universe of 45 thousand families that will be assisted.
According to the Ministry’s secretary of Agrarian Reorganization, Eugênio Peixoto, US$ 237 million (600 million reais) have been allocated to the program this year for land acquisition and productive investments.
Peixoto observes that Our First Land is a concrete alternative offered by the federal government to family farm youths.
“With this we are enabling these young people to transform their capacity for entrepreneurship into reality and contribute to the country’s rural development effort,” he says.
The secretary also recalled that the greatest incidence of rural exodus occurs among youth.
“It is is in the 18-24 age bracket that the rural exodus occurs. With the Our First Land program, we are providing an instrument of government policy for these youths to become rural entrepreneurs, individuals who will help change the reality of their regions, thus contributing to the country’s development,” the secretary concludes.
ABr