Minister receives from OCB a suggestion for a plan to strengthen cooperativism in the semi-arid region

In a meeting this Tuesday (19) with the Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, the president of the Organization of Brazilian Cooperatives (OCB), Márcio Lopes de Freitas, delivered a draft of the Cooperative Development Plan for the Brazilian Semiarid Region, responding to a request of President Jair Bolsonaro's government, carried out at the time of the transition. 

Over the weekend, during a trip to the Northeast, the minister announced the decision to strengthen the ministry's programs to encourage cooperatives and to create Mais Cooperatividade, in partnership with OCB. Upon receiving the document this afternoon, Tereza Cristina stated that “cooperativism can be the only solution to the region’s difficulties”. 

Credit

Márcio de Freitas also presented proposals for the cooperative system to maintain rural credit, with the aim of keeping the productive sector stable during the period of macroeconomic variation. The minister is committed to maintaining at least R$220 billion with the government's economic team to finance agriculture through lines of credit, commercialization, industrialization and investment. The amount is intended for family and business farming.

Regarding the demand for an increase in rural credit resources for the 2019/2010 Harvest Plan, Tereza Cristina stated that “for this to happen, Brazil needs to grow again and reduce its expenses”. She said that the ministry is open to dialogue to gather suggestions and proposals for this year's new harvest plan.

During the meeting at Mapa, Márcio de Freitas stated that cooperatives are available to share technical information and contribute to the formulation of policies aimed at the agricultural sector. The OCB also presented to the minister the results of the IC Agro (Agribusiness Confidence Index), which shows rural producers' satisfaction with the country's economic situation. According to the survey, farmers, in general, have shown confidence in the performance of the economy. Therefore, he continues to invest in his agricultural activity. 

Representatives of cooperatives such as Aurora, Coamo, Cooxupé, Cocamar, Comigo, Agrária, Bancoob, Sicredi, Coopercana, Coopercitrus and Cooperalfa were present at the hearing, as well as parliamentarians and the secretaries of Agricultural Policy, Eduardo Sampaio Marques, of Family Agriculture and Cooperativism , Fernando Schwanke.