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| Brazilian landless workers initiate their own land reform: Report by Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy | |
| The fact that the success of a programme
of land reform needs the active involvement of the peasantry has been re-validated
by the landless workers movement--Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra
(MST) of Brazil. Despite land reform legislations that dictated that 'land
serve its social function' and therefore, promised land to the poor
landless, there had not been any real implementation of such programmes
of reform. Land grabbing and the large extent of absentee landlordism affected
adversely both Brazil's economic development and its rural poor. Faced
with a promise that had not been delivered upon, the landless workers struggle
culminated in an organized movement in the form of MST, which finally saw
the physical occupation of idle land by the landless workers. This ultimately
compelled the government to follow up on its promises and legally hand over
the land to the workers. In the process of its struggle against the powerful
wealthy landholders, the MST has ensured for its members both means of livelihood
as well as a better quality of life by providing education and health care
to them. Based on a just-released book, the struggle of the MST and its very convincing victory has been the subject of a new report by the Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy. To read, go to: HTML:http://www.foodfirst.org/pubs/backgrdrs/2003/sp03v9n2.html PDF: http://www.foodfirst.org/pubs/backgrdrs/2003/sp03v9n2.pdf |
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| © International Development Economics Associates 2003 | |