Map presents sustainability projects to the World Bank

The low-productivity pasture conversion program, the new Safra Plan and the GEF Brasil: Vertentes project were some of the main themes presented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa) to the World Bank in a meeting held on Wednesday night (10 /05), in Brasília. “We are here to learn how the World Bank can help Mapa in the sustainable development of agriculture with the possibility of supporting agricultural innovations”, declared the director of the World Bank for Brazil, Johannes Zutt.

With the objective of converting up to 2 million hectares of low-productivity pasture per year, Mapa's special advisor, Carlos Ernesto Augustin, presented the Ministry's initiative that could even double the planting area in Brazil without deforestation, integrating crops and pasture , with application of organics to the soil and carbon sequestration.

The proposal is that the World Bank can offer special financing lines for rural producers who want to invest in the initiative. Augustin also showed the institution the pillars of the new Safra Plan, which will be launched next month, based on offering better interest rates and/or credit limits in accordance with the commitment to labor and social rights of rural workers, training, expansion of the use of biological rather than chemical pesticides per hectare of planting and carbon sequestration.

“The effect of these proposals is to reduce pressure on deforestation, increase productivity and reduce carbon emissions. It is the management to show the world the good practices of Brazilian agriculture”, highlighted the special advisor. 

Given the projects presented, the World Bank proposed holding a new round of meetings with other financial institutions to discuss the possibilities of making credit viable for agriculture.

Through the partnership with the World Bank, the GEF Brasil project is already in the finalization phase: Strands, sustainable multiple-use landscape consortia in food systems, land use and restoration, developed in partnership between Mapa, Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA), National Rural Learning Service (Senar), with financing from the World Bank.