Paraguay | Brazil: Right to land: Misereor

Huge soya plantations are displacing small farmers from their fields, while the use of harmful pesticides and fertilisers is damaging the soil and making cultivation more difficult.

Your donation will help farming families in Paraguay and Brazil to secure their food and their land.

Continent

Latin & Central America

Thematic focus:

Promoting sustainable agriculture

Brazil led the way and Paraguay followed suit in the 1990s: Smallholder families are being displaced from their fertile plots of land, which they have been cultivating for decades, in favour of soya cultivation. The genetically modified seeds are sown in huge monocultures and treated with harmful pesticides. The victims are the small farmers, whose plots are shrinking due to the state-sponsored expansion of soya plantations and whose health is endangered by the pesticides applied to neighbouring plantations. Again and again, children fall ill and adults develop rashes and circulatory problems. There are also frequent miscarriages due to the high level of environmental pollution.

The smallholders receive seedlings for growing fruit and vegetables from the project's tree nursery.

Many Guaraní are now enthusiastic beekeepers and earn an additional income.

In the project, the smallholders learn about environmentally friendly farming methods.

Small Guaraní farmers receive help against land grabbing and the poisoning of their habitat by pesticides and chemical fertilisers.

The church helps disadvantaged people to represent their interests.

The mango jelly sells well and generates income for poor families.

The frugal goats cope well in the dry climate and ensure a sufficient income.

Thanks to your support, small farmers can take legal action against the expulsion from their traditional habitat and the poisoning of soil and water by pesticides from neighbouring large plantations.

Those who have to defend themselves against powerful opponents need strong allies. Our partners stand up for the oppressed and deprived. And this is also possible thanks to your donation!

Misereor's partner in the region is the IRPAA smallholder school. It shows how to store water with cisterns, rainwater retention basins and underground dams. In agriculture, they are focussing on varieties such as sorghum, which require less water. Animal husbandry is being switched to sheep and goats, which are far better adapted to the semi-arid climate than cattle.

Securing livelihoods with fair trade

The small farmers can also use the water to plant mango trees. Women in their co-operative produce jam and fruit juices from the fruit, which they sell as far away as Europe.

Adapted technology: People's pump

IRPAA has also promoted the production and use of the so-called "people's pump". In extremely dry periods, water is brought to the surface from underground rainwater accumulations. The pumps are manually operated, robust and cost-effective.

Smallholder farms switch to innovative agricultural techniques u
Reforestation of the original tree population
Initiation of production and marketing groups

Download detailed project information

30 €

50 €

100 €

400 €

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Agricultural courses help farmers to secure their livelihoods. Every donation helps them.

For donations by bank transfer, please state the project number "P20054" in the reference.

To ensure that your donation has an impact in the long term, Misereor uses a small proportion for important administration an related tasks. This way, we make sure that projects are selected carefully and implemented responsibly and that their effects are regularly monitored. Should it not be possible to use your donation as planned, we will use it where it is currently needed most.

Our local partner organisations

Diocese of Coronel Oviedo

Misereor has been working with the diocese of Coronel Oviedo in Paraguay since the early 1990s. To ensure that small farming families can continue to live off their land, it helps them to establish a new, sustainable agriculture - with information, infrastructure and very practical support.