The Brazilian federal government plans to allocate US$ 4.5 billion for the National Family Farming Program (PRONAF) 2006-2007. The funds will be in the form of loans to residents of agrarian reform settlements and family farmers.
The announcement was made by the Brazilian Minister of Agrarian Development, Guilherme Cassel, with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by his side, after a meeting with representatives of the Cry of the Land Brazil 2006.
"Our goal is to reach the end of this Harvest Plan with two million contracts. That is, in four years we want to include in the Brazilian productive system over a million new families that, under normal circumstances, would not be producing," Cassel commented.
Cassel also announced that, to satisfy in part the demands of the Cry of the Land 2006, a new line of credit, the PRONAF Commercialization, was created, with an annual interest rate of 4.5% and individual loan limits of up to US$ 2,200.
According to Cassel, president Lula guaranteed that there will be no lack of resources to achieve the goal of the 2nd National Agrarian Reform Plan to settle 400 thousand families by the end of the current Administration’s mandate.
Agência Brasil