By Nikole Cantoara*
IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute) organized joint efforts in the municipalities of Altamira, Senador José Porfírio, Brasil Novo, Medicilândia and Pacajá, in the state of Pará, with the aim of issuing the CAF (National Family Farming Register).
The initiative took place during the month of May, as part of the Sustenta e Inova project, and was supported by the local STTRs (Rural Workers’ Unions), with the participation of ADEPARÁ (Pará State Agricultural Defense Agency) and the Floresta+ Amazônia program of SEMAS-PA (Pará State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainability).
The main aim of the action was to guarantee farmers access to the CAF, a document that ensures access to public policies and benefits for family farming. In total, around 80 new documents were issued and the records of farmers already registered were updated.
Mutirão in the town of José Porfírio on May 14 (Ana Julia Moreira dos Santos/IPAM)
According to farmer José Ferreira Dias, a beneficiary of the Sustenta e Inova project, the CAF would facilitate not only his retirement, but also the development of other activities essential to his work in the field: “This document will help me with many things, such as selling cocoa or cattle. It will help me with everything,” he said.
The regularization of the CAF allows farmers to access, for example, rural pensions, bank credit and participation in institutional markets. In this way, it encourages producers to remain in rural activity.
“The CAF has become such an important document that, over time, it can be as essential as the ID or CPF. Its regularization reflects the objectives of Sustenta e Inova precisely because the project aims to promote the sustainability and innovation of the farmer within the property, enabling economic, social, environmental and ecological development,” says Ana Julia Moreira, a research technician at IPAM and one of the organizers of the action.
Sustenta e Inova Project
The joint efforts are part of the Sustenta e Inova project (Sustain and Innovate in English), funded by the European Union, coordinated by Sebrae in Pará and carried out by IPAM in the Transamazon and Xingu regions. The project aims to offer technical assistance to rural producers, promote innovation in agriculture and encourage sustainable farming practices.
As well as facilitating access to CAF, Sustenta e Inova contributes to increasing the income of family farmers by strengthening rural entrepreneurship, ensuring an improvement in quality of life and promoting greater productivity and more active participation in rural activities.
*Communication Intern
