Brazilian Landless Workers’ Movement to Be Part of Major Sustainable Project in Venezuela
A Venezuelan woman on an agroecological family farm, 2024. X/ @LaInventadera
September 10, 2024 Hour: 10:48 am
President Maduro promotes agroecology based on the konuco system to guarantee food availability in the country.
On Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced the launch of a community-based agricultural project covering 10,000 hectares in La Vergareña, in Bolivar state.
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Under the supervision of presidential commissioner Wilmar Castro, this initiative will be promoted by the president of AgroFANB, Gen. Jorge Valbuena, and the Brazilian Landless Workers’ Movement (MST). The project will be based on the dissemination and consolidation of the “Konuco,” an Indigenous farming system that incorporates agroecology to ensure food sustainability for families.
“This model of agricultural production is diversified, profitable and productive. It preserves natural ecosystems while maintaining a significant level of autonomy with respect to the use of modern inputs and technology. It also shows that Indigenous peoples know how to make use of the regeneration mechanisms of tropical forests and savannas,” explained the Amazon Socio-Environmental Working Group Wataniba.
“As an agroecological method based on polycultures and small or medium-sized farms, the konuco has an optimal performance in protecting the physical and biological health of the soil. It is more efficient in capturing carbon and in the uptake of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus,” it added.
“The konuco system has sustained families for years. We will start with 10,000 hectares, but our goal is to reach 100,000 hectares to distribute food across the country,” President Maduro said, adding that schools should also promote agroecology by implementing their own konucos.
MST brigade member Marlon Do Santos Vargas stated that agroecological projects are being developed in Brazil, and children and young people have been engaged in agroecology, which is essential. “It’s no longer enough to be an agronomist, and thanks to the landless movement, we are advancing. Seeing young people here interested in improving their ecological knowledge is impressive,” he stated.
MST leader Simone Magallanes noted that family farming is important because it provides both diversity and food security for the Brazilian people. She emphasized that Brazilian family farming produces over 30 percent of the food that reaches urban tables.
This decision to promote family agroecology in Bolivar state is one of many responses the Bolivarian government is implementing to prevent U.S. sanctions from once again affecting Venezuela’s food supply. “This productive project will ensure food for the people,” said Jorge Arreaza, the secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP).
teleSUR/ JF Sources: VTV – Wataniba