O
ne of the big challenges faced by agriculture nowadays is to produce
food, fuel and fiber in a scenario of shrinking rural population and ev-
er-increasing urban masses. So as to change the logics of rural drift,
public and private organizations all across Brazil are joining efforts in-
tended tomake young rural people to see that their decision to stay in
the countryside represents an opportunity for employment and income in the short
run. In Rio Grande do Sul, since the 1960s, the population has been concentrating
progressively in the towns.
In 2010, according to the Census, 85.1% of the population in the State was living in
urban areas. According to agronomist Lino Geraldo Vargas Moura, technical director at
Emater/RS-Ascar, projections point to a population of only 10% to 12% in the country-
side inRioGrande do Sul, by 2020. “Scarce jobopportunities, the lack of an effective par-
ticipation in the administration and income of the farm, the absence of infrastructure in
the rural setting and no access to the internet are factors that push the young people
Farmsuccessionis
acauseofconcern
fororganizations
identifiedwiththe
countryside. In
RioGrandedoSul,
morethan85%of
thepeoplelivein
towns
away fromrural life”, he comments.
Furthermore, he recalls other determining points, like the vision of the families that
rural life is bad and is something of the past. “The parents keep insisting that they do not
want this life for their children”, he comments. According to Lino Moura, increasing con-
nectivity and modern infrastructure in some rural regions have helped curb rural drift
and have even convinced some youth to take the reverse course. Education, whether at
fundamental school or specific qualifications, improve the managing capacity and the
appearance of new rural leaderships.
Rural succession has always been high on the agenda at Emater/RS-Ascar during its sixty
yearsinoperation.“Ruralextensionhasalwaysbeenattheoriginofanyinitiativerelatedtothe
young”, notes Clair Tomé Kuhn, president of the entity. Currently, the strategy consists in con-
tactingthefamiliesasawhole.“Thereisneedtochangethevisionoftheparentswithregardto
rural life, with a focus on the role of the young in the administration and income derived from
the farm”, she says, recalling that programs related to agribusiness and niche markets have
equallyprovedeffective inpreventing theyoung fromleaving the countryside.
n
Rural population
should represent
from 10% to 12%
of the people
in the State,
by 2020
future
Keepinganeye
onthe
Inor Ag. Assmann
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