Maranhao is one of the poorest and most corrupt states located in Brazil and has the world’s most unequal land distribution. Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) began in 1984 as a response to Brazil’s increase in the number of landless people. The MST aims to change this issue by providing those who have nothing with a new way of life through the process of Agrarian reform. Agrarian reform is the change in laws or regulations in relation to land ownership. The 184 article of constitution provides a law. This is, land that is not being used productively, should be distributed equally. Therefore the importance of land rights in Brazil is recognised as an important hierarchal issue and thus the MST took full action to conform to this law.
Mistica is the idea that the world is just and in harmony with nature; this is what led to the uprising of the MST and is popular within the culture of the rural population. (http://www.globalexchange.org/news/m%C3%ADstica-mst-0) The only way to escape the issue of unequal land rights were to carry out land invasions. In 1979 landless families began to take action. They invaded a local estate and dominated it as their own. A year later, these families were granted the land which inspired other landless people to follow in their footsteps. In 1984, 15 states turned this social movement into a national force. The MST was “the most dramatic and far-reaching social change of the second half of this century”. This quote from Eric Hobsbawm illustrates how dominating this movement was and thus the MST was born.
Globalization is the increase in international integration of trade and cultures in a country from around the world and is making the land struggles in Brazil worse. As a result of this process, it gives settlers no choice but to abandon the land and work in cities. Furthermore, migration to the city is encouraged unintentionally due to 60% of the land not being of functional use. (www.mstbrazil.org). One of the main causes of poverty is the loss of land. Between 1985 and 1999, family farms declined by a fifth and the 25 million peasants employed in agriculture fell from 23 to 18 million; this was the biggest decline recorded in such a short period of time. (Sue Branford and Jan Rocha, Cutting the Wire. The story of the movement in Brazil (London: Latin American, 2002)) As a result of this reduction in land, this has led to an increase in unemployment and starvation as the people of the MST live on the bare minimum and do not earn enough to survive. This is a serious problem in slum areas. Land loss is an epi centre for the problems mentioned above. It’s vital that the importance of land rights are understood and distributed equally in order to prevent the knock on effects occurring.
Darci Maschio, a MST activist says “land that we conquer through struggle is the land that we win without the help of anyone”. This suggests that they MST have achieved their goal of achieving land rights. Although the quote suggests that it was a challenge, through the power of the community, they have managed to achieve what they intended to do. Evidence has shown that the Agrarian reform has taken action. This allowed the MST to relocate over 300,000 poor people on over 21 million hectares of land. Brazil’s concentrated land distribution is expanding further which will allow for more and more people to have a larger and equal area of land. For example, in Itapeva, 17,000 hectares of land is allocated to settlers of equal size. They can farm the land, produce crops and food, which can then be sold on to earn money and thus, improve their overall standard of living.
MST implemented a new strategy. In rural areas where poverty and starvation is rife, land that was used to produce food for the local population is instead used to produce commercial crops for the inhabitants own satisfaction. For example, sugar cane. The MST chose unproductive areas of land that was favourable to easy access of water, fertile land and legal ownership. It is estimated that 53% of the world’s population is rural. For the first time in human history, it is predicted that the number of people living on land in rural areas will outnumber those living in cities. (UN population fund, 2001)
Brazil has benefited from the land rights that have been implemented. For example, a Bionatur organic seed company has been set up by the MST. Organic seeds are produced and sold on to the world’s increasing number of organic farmers. In Brazil, over 50 families grow a diverse range of more than 20 seeds which are sold internationally and nationally. (Branford and Rocha, op.cit) Moreover, exporting crops, like soya was the way forward for Brazil’s future. In 1999 $56 billion was made as a result of soya exports. These are just a two examples of how important the land rights in Brazil are and thus illustrates a successful future ahead.