Outcome of the agrarian reform in Brazil during the last two decades

The agrarian reform allows for land redistribution and gives rural workers the opportunity to develop their life projects, rescuing the dignity of a historically excluded population. The conquest of the land carries significances that span from the rescue of citizenship to the improvement of living conditions due to the acquisition of goods, products and services. It is pointed out that in Brazil there still exists a marked concentration of large-landed estates. In this sense, this work had the objective of analyzing the Brazilian agrarian reform process during the last two decades. In this period the country had three Presidents, two of them elected with the support of the Rural Landless Workers Movement, increasing the expectations in relation to the fulfillment of the agrarian reform. The advances in the policies of rural settlements are notable; however, the structure of large-land estates remains unaltered. In the last two years (2011 and 2012) the number of settled families, as well as the number of settlements accomplished, were the worst since 2006. The priority of the current government is the eradication of extreme poverty and, in this sense, the agrarian reform becomes an essential policy to contribute to such goal, since with the distribution of the property of the land also diminishes the concentration of wealth.

Optimal subdivision of land in agrarian reform projects: an analysis using genetic algorithms

J.A. Ferreira Neto, E.C. Santos Junior, U. Fra Paleo, D. Miranda Barros, and M.C.O. Moreira. 2011. Optimal subdivision of land in agrarian reform projects: an analysis using genetic algorithms. Cien. Inv. Agr. 38(2): 169-178. The objective of this manuscript is to develop a new procedure to achieve optimal land subdivision using genetic algorithms (GA). The genetic algorithm was tested in the rural settlement of Veredas, located in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This implementation was based on the land aptitude and its productivity index. The sequence of tests in the study was carried out in two areas with eight different agricultural aptitude classes, including one area of 391.88 ha subdivided into 12 lots and another of 404.1763 ha subdivided into 14 lots. The effectiveness of the method was measured using the shunting line standard value of a parceled area lot`s productivity index. To evaluate each parameter, a sequence of 15 calculations was performed to record the best individual fitness average (MMI) found for each parameter variation. The best parameter combination found in testing and used to generate the new parceling with the GA was the following: 320 as the generation number, a population of 40 individuals, 0.8 mutation tax, and a 0.3 renewal tax. The solution generated rather homogeneous lots in terms of productive capacity.

The distribution of agricultural land and the question of agrarian reform in Brazil

Agrarian reform has long been an acute issue in Brazil, where the distribution of cultivable land is extremely unequal. The Land Statute adopted by the military in 1964 constituted a genuine reform programme, which, however, was never implemented as the government chose to modernize agriculture and expand cultivated areas. This has prevented the poorest from having access to the land.-from English summary

From agrarian reform to associative enterprises

Includes bibliography

Evaluation of the relationship between education and sustainability in peasant movements: The experience of the National Education Program in Agrarian Reform

Brazil is one of the largest agricultural producers in the world. However, its agrarian composition is based on two markedly different production models, particularly in relation to sustainability: a peasant family agriculture, which plays an important role in food production for domestic consumption and advocates agro-ecological practises; and agribusiness, the politically and economically hegemonic model that produces commodities for export based on monoculture and intensive use of pesticides. Therefore, in order to create the means to develop peasant lands, social movements and peasants have engaged themselves politically and defended an education model grounded in sustainable practises of production and social organisation. Taking this into account, the main purpose of this paper is to analyse and assess the Brazilian experience of integration between education and sustainability, in the National Education Program in Agrarian Reform (PRONERA). To accomplish this aim, a survey with a semi-structured questionnaire was carried out among teachers, students, monitors, and coordinators of the course offered by PRONERA. The surveys showed that the courses are promoting the concepts of sustainability among peasants. However, many adjustments need to be taken into consideration during the planning process for the next courses offered by PRONERA.

The reform movement in Judaism

by David Philipson

Guanchias Limitada : a case study of an agrarian reform cooperative and its long-term relationship with a multinational firm in Honduras /

"PN-AAL-046"--Cover.

The role of agrarian reform in Latin American progress /

Text taken from a speech by James R. Fowler, delivered at St. Joseph's College, Philadelphia, Pa. on April 25, 1968.

Agrarian reform & economic growth in developing countries; papers. Sponsored by the North Central Land Tenure Research Committee; the Farm Foundation; and the Farm Economics Division, Economic Research Service.

Includes bibliography.

The pro-reform movement led by Avenir de la Francaise:a point of leverage in the French political process?

The study examines factors influencing language planning decisions in contemporary France. It focuses upon the period 1992-1994, which witnessed the introduction of two major language policy measures, the first an amendment to the French Constitution, in 1992, proclaiming the language of the Republic as French, the second, in 1994, legislation to extend the ambit of the loi Bas-Lauriol, governing the use of the French language in France. The thesis posits a significant role for the pro-reform movement led by the French language association Avenir de la Langue Francaise (ALF) in the introduction and formulation of the policy measures concerned. The movement is depicted as continuing the traditional pattern of intellectual involvement in language planning, whilst also marking the beginning of a highly proactive, and increasingly political approach. Detailed examination of the movement's activities reveals that contextual factors and strategic strength combined to facilitate access to the levers of power, and enabled those involved to exert an impact on policy initiation, formulation, and ultimately implementation. However, ALF's decision to pursue the legislative route led to the expansion of the network of actors involved in language policymaking, and the development of counter-pressure from sectoral groups. It is suggested that this more interventionist approach destabilised the traditionally consensual language policy community, and called into question the quasi-monopoly of the intelligentsia in respect of language policymaking. It raised broader questions relating to freedom of expression and the permissible limits of language regulation in a democracy such as France. It also exposed ongoing ambiguities and inconsistencies in the interpretation of the tenets of language planning.

O campo em revista: agrarismo e modernismo no Estado do Rio de Janeiro nos anos de 1920

O presente trabalho pesquisa como o campo foi interpretado nos anos de 1920 pelos intelectuais fluminenses. Por meio da analise de três revistas – Illustração Fluminense (1921-1924), A Agricultura Fluminense: revista da Sociedade de Agricultura e Indústrias Ruraes (1926) e A Fazenda Fluminense (1929-1930) – busca-se compreender como o rural foi uma via alternativa para a modernização do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. A revista foi um gênero de imprensa símbolo da modernidade que produzia novas sensibilidades e comportamentos em uma época de transformações. A economia fluminense encontrava-se em crise desde o final do século XIX fazendo com que o Estado passasse a ter um papel secundário na política nacional republicana. O projeto das revistas agrícolas analisadas desejavam reconstruir essa identidade fluminense ao propor um campo modernizado, com novas técnicas de cultivo, com políticas de diversificação agrícola, com investimentos na educação rural e com pequenas propriedades. O rural, tantas vezes ligado ao “atraso”, integrou as propostas modernistas fluminenses discutidas no início do século XX.

Successful strategies for the implementation of land reform : a peasants’ account from the Philippines

Entre 1988 et 2008, les Philippines ont mis en oeuvre le Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) qui visait à redistribuer 9 million d‟hectares de terres agricoles aux paysans sans terre. En dépit des échappatoires du programme et d‟une structure sociale très inégale qui freinent sa mise en oeuvre, ce modèle de réforme agraire présente des résultats surprenants alors que 82% des terres ont été redistribuées. Concernant les terres plus litigieuses appartenant à des intérêts privés, Borras soutient que le succès surprenant de plusieurs cas de luttes agraires s‟explique par l‟utilisation de la stratégie bibingka qui consiste à appliquer de la pression par le bas et par le haut afin de forcer la redistribution. Sa théorie cependant ne donne que peu de détails concernant les éléments qui rendent un cas plus ou moins litigieux. Elle ne traite pas non plus de la manière dont les éléments structurels et l‟action collective interagissent pour influencer le résultat des luttes agraires. Dans ce mémoire, nous nous attardons d‟abord à la manière dont certains éléments structurels – le type de récolte et le type de relation de production - influencent le degré de résistance des propriétaires terriens face aux processus du CARP, contribuant ainsi à rendre les cas plus ou moins litigieux. Ensuite nous analysons l‟influence du contexte structurel et des stratégies paysannes sur le résultat de la mise en oeuvre du programme de réforme agraire. Pour répondre à nos deux questions de recherche, nous présentons quatre études de cas situés dans la province de Cebu.

O currículo e as práticas pedagógicas na EJA: concepções e crenças dos professores da escola municipal Francisca Leonísia Cruz

The present investigation deals with the Curriculum and Pedagogical Practices of Young and Adults, EJA, and articulates with the conceptions and beliefs of teachers sitting. The empirical scope of this investigation consisted in the Municipal School Francisca Leonísia, located in the Agrarian Reform Settlement Serra Nova, city of Florânia/RN. Seeks to analyze the relationship between the Curriculum and Educational Practices of Young and Adult EJA - conceptions beliefs of these teachers. This work is based on qualitative research, interpretative character reflective and makes use of documentary analysis, structured interviews and reflective sessions as methodological procedures which ensure the achievement of our goals in research. These procedures allowed us to enter the practice setting and curriculum for teachers to understand how they think, prepare and practice of adult education in school curriculum research field. The documentary analysis provided the rethinking of the curriculum selected references, Political Pedagogical Project and Proposed Course of EJA, from a critical reading of concepts and conceptions given in these references, with a view to construction and reconstruction of concepts that reclaim the identity of young people and adult field, inserted in the Rural Workers Movement landless/MST. As reflective sessions were constituted in spaces of collective training and allowed the group to selfreflection e collective reflection about the ideas and beliefs that permeate the curriculum and guide their practices education in adult education. In these areas of training are also discussed current problems of adult education, the construction of an educational project of the adult education field to, warranties of learning and cultural identity of the adult education field and placed in the context of the MST. Under this view, it is concluded that the conceptions and beliefs of teachers seated directly relate to the curriculum designed, developed and practiced in adult education, as well as the educational practices that permeate the curriculum. This relation is in the midst of adversities of Rural Education, inserted in the Movement of Landless Rural Workers-MST, and requires the commitment of teachers to the necessary changes to an education are critical and emancipatory