Movement highlights the need for support for the implementation of a Solidarity Kitchen and agro-industry
As part of President Lula's delegation, which is fulfilling its agenda this Wednesday (November 19) at COP30, the Minister of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger, Wellington Dias, visited the Abril Vermelho settlement, of the Landless Workers Movement, a reference in food production in the municipality of Santa Bárbara do Pará.
The settlement is the result of the struggle for land, occupied on a monoculture palm oil plantation, where today 414 families develop agroecological practices and produce food and native seedlings in a collective nursery, guaranteeing the reforestation of the region, recovery of water springs and soil recovery.
“This is a real lesson, unlike anything you'll find anywhere else. I made a point of visiting this space because I wanted to see the productive forest in practice, which is the best example of what is in the COP30 declaration,” the minister highlighted.
To the minister, the MST explained that 2025 is the first year that the state of Pará will access the Food Acquisition Program (PAA) and, therefore, faces the challenge of expanding access through agro-industrialization and the implementation of Solidarity Kitchens.
“These are very significant limitations that we face when taking our products to a national fair, in São Paulo, for example. How do we transport a set of raw products that have no processing whatsoever to reach the marketing spaces? Therefore, one of our challenges is how to advance the agro-industrialization of strategic products, so that they last longer and we can supply them to public policy and marketing spaces,” explains Giselda Coelho, who is part of the MST's Production Sector.
During the People's Summit, an autonomous meeting promoted by people’s organizations in the lead-up to COP30, the Abril Vermelho settlement was responsible for supplying 5 tons of food to the Solidarity Kitchen, which fed more than ten thousand people over five days, with a record-breaking PAA (Food Acquisition Program) total purchase of 146 tons of food.
During the visit, the minister toured the seedling nursery, the spring restoration project, the facilities of the Ana Primavesi Association, and the Agroforestry System (SAF) of settler Raimundo dos Santos Filho, where annatto, papaya, açaí, peach palm, and a wide variety of fruits typical of the Amazon region grow.
“Here we presented to the minister what we want for agriculture and for agrarian reform in our country. The MST has presented to Brazilian society a very practical proposal, which is to place 100,000 families in agroecology and agroecological transition, through the massification of agroecology for food production, and for this we will ask for help from many ministries,” explains the settler.
To the movement, the minister guaranteed the scheduling of a meeting with representatives of other government agencies, such as the National Supply Company (Conab), in the coming days, and the necessary support to guarantee agro-industrialization based on the presentation of a project by the MST.
"We didn't just come to visit the settlement, we came with a commitment. It is possible to strengthen access to the PAA and, regarding the more complex issues [such as agro-industrialization], we ask the movement to present a concrete project so that we can move forward," Dias points out.
Contract+Brazil Foods
During the visit, the minister highlighted the launch of the Contract+Brazil Foods Platform, a federal initiative presented during COP30 that aims to connect, in a simple and fast way, public buyers (federal, state and municipal bodies) and suppliers, specifically focused on the purchase of food from family farming.
“The Abril Vermelho [settlement] can register what it produces on the platform. You have what you consume, but you also have a surplus, whether it's pupunha, açaí, or cassava, and we will map which government agencies can buy it,” explains Dias.
