In Brazil, there is a huge gap between rich and poor. In the state of Paraíba in the north-east of the country, the situation for young people from small farming families is desolate. Our partner organization ASPTA supports them in building a dignified life at home.
Rafaela de Azevedo Teófilo’s life took a special turn when she drew the right lot in a competition. The 18-year-old was surprised at an event organized by our partner organization: she won a Morada Nova sheep. “I would never have guessed how much the animal has grown on me today,” says the young woman. She decided to keep the sheep, breed animals from then on and take on responsibility: “I started to raise an animal that was really mine. Then I took part in several training courses to learn more about animal health and animal husbandry”. She is visibly fulfilled by her new occupation, and when the day dawns, she immediately checks on the sheep every morning. Rafaela lives in her house with her parents, two brothers and a niece; her mother and father work as farmers. “We produce three types of beans, corn, pumpkins and also millet, which we use to make animal feed in the dry season. We currently breed chickens, sheep and cattle.” Rafaela contributes to the family’s well-being with her own sheep farm. She looks after her animals herself, feeds and cares for them, takes the sheep out to pasture and into the barn. Her dream is to devote herself even more intensively to animal husbandry: “I would like to continue my path in sheep farming, where Rafaela contributes to the well-being of the family. I want to continue farming because it’s what I love doing,” says Rafaela happily. And she is still grateful today for the lot she has drawn.
A dignified life
Thanks to our partner organization ASPTA and the training programmes, young people like Rafaela can build a dignified life back home. In ASPTA’s youth organizations, the young women and men acquire knowledge in environmentally friendly, economically profitable agriculture and learn to sell their products profitably. They support each other in their projects. In this way, they are strengthened in their smallholder identity and encouraged to play an active role in shaping their future and regional politics. Another example is Herick Menezes do Nascimento, who is involved in his family farm on a daily basis. Together with his mother, the 20-year-old plants maize, beans, ornamental plants, fruit trees and native plants. “Everything we produce on the property with my mother is for family consumption,” says Herick. He lost his father when he was three years old and now lives alone with his mother after his sister moved to Rio de Janeiro. “We live on my father’s pension and our income from farming. I also have a small income from producing seedlings, which I sell in the nursery.”
Together with other young people
Herick particularly likes the collective work within the market garden: “I work there together with other young smallholders. We plant vegetables and divide the tasks between us. Every day, one of us is responsible for looking after the plants. As a group, we sell the seedlings and earn a small income as young farmers.” Thanks to his work, Herick now has a completely different view of the environment than before. Since joining a cooperative of young small farmers in the state of Paraíba, he has been feeling really good. “We are politically active because today’s climate policy determines the future prospects of the young generation. Together, we are defying the power of agribusinesses and their monocultures. We rely on organic farming and do not use pesticides. We need our healthy food and seedlings for our own supply or we sell them. This also gives us an income.” Young smallholders like Herick make an important contribution to combating poverty and protecting the environment and climate. His greatest wish is to gain further qualifications in order to professionalize the production of seedlings. Above all, however, he would like to continue working with the group of like-minded and committed young people and campaign for a more environmentally conscious world. At first, Dayane das Dores Monteiro de Araújo could not imagine a future in the countryside. Today she is a young farmer living with her husband in the countryside in Esperança. She is 22 years old and has been married for two years. She and her husband make a living from farming, producing maize, beans, fava beans and cotton. They also sell the cattle they breed together. Dayane has been active in the local youth movement since 2018 and is still involved today. “Before I knew about the youth movement here in the countryside, I always thought I had to go to the city to secure my future. Today, however, I know that I can also live well in the countryside. The youth movement is therefore very important to me.”
An existence at home
One of the highlights of the youth project is the solidarity fund, in which she is currently involved and coordinates the youth and women’s groups. “My biggest wish for the future is to enlarge the area around our house and build a chicken coop with wire mesh.” This is necessary as her chickens have already been attacked by predators such as foxes. There is a lack of water resources on her property, so she would also like to have a 16,000-liter cistern in the future to meet her family’s needs. Dayane is full of hope and grateful that she can provide for her family’s income on her land together with her husband.
Author: Valerie Wendenburg, Media and Communications at terre des hommes schweiz
