All in One Rhythm: How to use Youth and Agriculture to foster Development in Brazil

The day has finally come. After eight years of intensive planning, building and waiting, we will see the ball rolling at 5 pm today, Brasilia time, for the first match in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Surely, this journey means more than football. This period was also marked by a rising concern of Brazilian people for better days, for better living standards, for development. The movement that started last year in Brazil claims for changes, lifetime ones, and it was mostly led by young people. 

Young people are a considerable part of the Brazilian population –nearly 50 million in 2012. The country lives the very peak of its demographic window and pins hope on this particular group for fostering overall economic development. For this reason, the rising and loud voice of the youth can be seen in many programmes and policies created in Brazil during the last years: a special national secretariat for youth was established in 2004, our constitution has included the term “youth” in the chapter related to the fundamental rights and guarantees in 2010 and the youth statute was approved in the Senate in 2013.

Moreover, Brazil is an important player in the agricultural sector: Brazilian grain yields have achieved 193, 6 million tons so far, a record grain harvest, and the country's agricultural exports were US$ 100 billion in 2013. Family farming is also a crucial part of the national production: it represents 84% of the rural settlements in Brazil and around 38% of the gross agricultural production in 2013. 

Nevertheless, Brazil still faces many challenges: more and more people live in urban areas in detriment of rural ones, there is still a huge income and social disparities, rising obesity epidemics and declining good eating habits, among others. Therefore, how can the strength of the Brazilian youth combine with the large agricultural sector and foster development in the country? This question will guide our special series about Brazil during the month of the World Cup 2014. As the World Cup’s title, we aim to be “all in one rhythm” in order to use the young and the agricultural sector to foster development in our country.

During June, you will…

1. Learn a little bit about the main challenges in the agricultural Brazilian sector from different perspectives. 

2. Get to know some young professionals and what they think and research related to agricultural development in Brazil.

3. Read about some youth initiatives that promote agriculture in the country.

  So, come with us and let the games begin!

Picture credit: Bandeira