Helping Brazil’s family farmers access and compete in new markets

For over a decade, FAO has supported family farmers in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Norte State to improve agricultural productivity and develop their businesses to access and compete in new markets. That includes promoting investments for compliance with food safety regulations. 

It also involves finding solutions to address demands from institutional food procurement programmes, such as schools and hospitals, and entry points for formal private markets. 

In terms of economic growth, Rio Grande do Norte has not kept pace with the rest of the country. Poverty rates are high. About half of the State’s households experience some form of food insecurity, compared with one third nationwide. And income inequality and gender disparities are prevalent, especially in rural areas. 

Agriculture in the drought-prone State is the mainstay of the rural poor. But most producers are family farmers who informally sell what they do not consume themselves. 

The Centre helped design and implement the first phase of this multisector World Bank-funded project – and supported the design of the second phase, which is expected to be approved for financing in 2025. 

The project has worked to improve the access of family farmers to markets and productive infrastructure, such as water supply systems, irrigation and roads. It has also focused on improving access to quality healthcare, education and public security services. 

The State identified aquaculture, honey and beekeeping, coconut and cashew production, goat and sheep farming, irrigated agriculture, handicrafts and tourism as value chains with good on-farm and off-farm income potential.

Of the 119 producer organizations supported by the project, 74 received food safety and hygiene compliance certification. They have all benefitted from technical assistance in strengthening their access to credit, commercial intelligence, marketing and professional management skills to be able to tap into formal marketing channels. 

The project has promoted the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and technologies – from the application of bioinputs and integrated pest management to the use of solar energy and water from agro-industrial processing for irrigation, among other areas. 

These efforts are designed to boost agricultural productivity as well as the farmers’ climate resilience. The project’s second phase will build on these achievements and intensify work to help producer organizations sell to bigger commercial buyers, including supermarkets.