Rural Poverty Alleviation in Brazil

This report constitutes a step towards the objective of designing an integrated strategy for rural poverty reduction in Brazil. The report contains an updated and more detailed profile of the rural poor in the Northeast and Southeast of Brazil; identifies key determinants of rural poverty in these regions; and proposes a straetgic framwork in which to couch a set of integrated policies that could effectively help to reduce rural poverty in Brazil. The need for an integrated set of policies arises foremost because of the heterogeneous nature of the rural poor in Brazil. No single simple remedy for rural poverty reduction in Brazil could be identified and consequently, an integrated policy approach that provides multiple paths out of rural poverty tailored to key characteristics distinguishing various household groups emerges as a more effective alternative. This study was complemented by seven in-depth thematic studies that bear on critical components to move towards the formulation of an integrated rural poverty alleviation strategy: the dynamics of the Brazilian small farm sector; rural labour markets; rural land markets; RNF employment; rural education; and rural pensions. This analysis, together with an evaluation of relevant current public programmes, underlies the propsed strategic framework of policy options aimed at reducing rural poverty in the NE and SE of Brazil.