PointofView
JOÃOMARTINSDASILVA JUNIOR
President of the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA)
Forastrongrural
middleclass
Reinforcementisfundamentalforspeedingupthedevelopmentoftheagricultural
sectorandfortheresumptionofeconomicandsocialgrowthinBrazil
R
ural producers have again cele-
brated positive results in 2016,
despite the recession. In light
of this reality, the Brazilian Con-
federation of Agriculture and
Livestock (CNA) reinforces its priority ini-
tiative and strategy towards strengthen-
ing and expanding the rural middle class
in Brazil. João Martins da Silva Junior,
president of the entity, believes that by
strengthening and expanding this class the
agricultural sector will speed up its devel-
opment in a balanced manner, whilst con-
tributing towards the resumptionof the so-
cial and economic growth in the Country.
Despite the economic crisis and the ad-
verse effects of the climate on the rural sec-
tor in 2016, the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) of agribusiness should come to the
end of the period with a growth rate rang-
ing from 2.5% to 3%. From one year to the
next, the share of agriculture in Brazil’s
economy will jump from 21.5% to 23%,
and exports, from 46% to 48% over the to-
tal, besides showing a positive balance in
the generation of job opportunities, con-
trary to other sectors of the economy.
Nevertheless, according to Martins, “al-
though being the only economic sector on
a rising trend, with successive positive po-
sitions in the balance of trade and internal
supply, Brazilian agriculture is not entire-
ly protected against the crisis faced by the
Country”. The segment is supposed to con-
tinue on the rise throughout 2017, occu-
pying the frontline position in the national
resumption move, the CNA president ex-
pects, but hints at big challenges that still
need tobe surmounted. Inorder to achieve
the objective to strengthen the rural mid-
dle class, inhiswords, there is need to tack-
le some essential questions.
Inor Ag. Assmann
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