In the state of Bahia, a new initiative encourages the landless to band together to buy up land--with low-interest government loans.
In Brazil, almost half of the agricultural land is owned by just one per cent of the population. The government estimates that land reform would benefit some 4.5 million families-both agricultural workers and city slum-dwellers. Although successive governments have backed the policy, political opposition has so far prevented any meaningful progress. Now Brazil's President, Luiz Ignazio Lula da Silva, has announced plans to resettle more than 100,000 landless families this year, and promised an extra US$500 million towards agrarian reform over the next two years. Life visits the Northeastern state of Bahia to report on an initiative, which encourages the landless to club together to buy up land, with low-interest government loans.
|