EN 
PT_BR Legislative Decree Project 257/24, by deputy Domingos Neto (PSD-CE), suspends the rule that granted the Garantia-Safra benefit to farmers in nine states in 2022 and 2023. The text is under analysis in the Chamber of Deputies.
Ordinance 127/24 of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming determines the payment of the Harvest Guarantee to farmers who signed up for the benefit in the 2022/2023 harvest.
Farmers from Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Minas Gerais, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe received the payment. In total, more than R$$ 606 million was allocated to 632 municipalities.
The intention of the Ministry of Agrarian Development was to guarantee food security for family farmers in regions subject to crop loss due to drought or flooding.
Lack of transparency
However, Congressman Domingos Neto criticizes the rule for lacking transparency in the criteria used to grant the benefit. According to the congressman, not all municipalities that suffered from climate problems benefited.
“Ceará as a whole suffered all kinds of bad weather that harmed these family farmers and consequently their small production, making them eligible for the benefit,” he said. However, according to Neto, neighboring municipalities that suffered the same weather conditions were excluded from the benefit.
“The official technical basis or regulation detailing the eligibility criteria for participation in the Garantia-Safra program was not made explicit,” he criticized.
Next steps
The proposal will be analyzed by the Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development committees; and the Constitution and Justice and Citizenship committees. It will then go to the Plenary.
To become law, the proposal needs to be approved by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
