Ana Lúcia Caldas
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Porto Alegre - During a debate, yesterday (9), on Agrarian Reform and Integration Among Nations, the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) announced the formation of a network through which government agencies in charge of agrarian reform in 14 Latin American countries will exchange information and act in conjunction. The agreement was reached at the 2nd International Conference on Agrarian Reform, which ends today (10).

INCRA president Rolf Hackbart said that the proposal stemmed "from the need for governments to work in closer association in the area of government policies to eliminate hunger and extreme poverty in the countryside, given that large economic groups and rural workers' movements have been working together for many years."

The network's work agenda should be defined at the first meeting, which is scheduled to take place in May, in São Paulo or Brasília. In Hackbart's view, "the only way to make progress in agrarian reform, agricultural policy, and environmental preservation is for countries to exchange experiences." He informed that the conference made it possible for countries such as Uruguay, Bolivia, Venezuela, and the Central American nations to learn about what has been done in Brazil, "such as the technology of aerial imaging and coordinate-setting of rural properties."

Hackbart commended the document drafted by the social movements that participated in the Land, Territory, and Dignity forum, held concomitantly with the international conference. "The social movements have a united position when it comes to common issues like gender, land, seeds, agriculture, and food sovereignty, and this represents an enormous advance," he remarked.

He went on to say that the official declaration that will be issued by the conference today "should reinforce the importance of agrarian reform as one of the ways to eliminate poverty and extreme poverty in the countryside."

Translation: David Silberstein