Strengthening family farming: biofuels as a way ahead
As well as being responsible for producing around 80% of the world's food, family farming is a strategic sector for alternative energy. An update to the Brazilian government’s Social Biofuel Seal is going to ensure that half of these purchased products come from family farming
More than 608 million family farms around the world, occupying between 70% and 80% of agricultural lands and producing around 80% of the world's food in terms of value: this UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) data illustrates how important family farming is to global economy, food and environmental management.
As a way to further strengthen this fundamental sector, the Brazilian government is going to update Brasil’s Social Biofuel Seal (Selo Combustível Social) to ensure that half of purchases of these products come from family farming. The decree is the result of joint efforts by Brasil’s ministries of Mines and Energy (Ministério de Minas e Energia/MME) and Agrarian Development (Ministério do Desenvolvimento Agrário e Agricultura Familiar/MDA). The new text offers greater transparency and leverages the requirements that are necessary to grant and maintain the instrument by biofuel producers, improving the income and quality of life of those who make a living from family farming.
“The biodiesel issue cannot compete with food. It is about enhancing, generating clean energy and providing food sovereignty to our people,” stated Brasil’s Minister of Agrarian Development Paulo Teixeira.
To the President of the Cooperative of Family Farmers and Solidarity Enterprises (Cooperativa dos Agricultores Familiares e dos Empreendimentos Solidários) and Director of the National Union of Family Farming and Solidarity Economy Cooperatives (União Nacional das Cooperativas de Agricultura Familiar e Economia Solidária) Antônio Cardoso, the Seal represents an alliance between family farming, cooperatives, entrepreneurs, solidarity economy, government and national industry. “The Seal deconstructs legal insecurities and redefines the industrial map, since it is a great opportunity to bring family farming to Brasil’s Northeast, North and Semi-Arid regions,” he says.
The expansion of biodiesel in Brasil’s energy matrix adds to the efforts foreseen by Fuel of the Future (Combustível do Futuro). Both initiatives strive to enable sustainable mobility that is fair, reducing carbon intensity by using the most diverse technological routes and raw materials.
Social Fuel Seal
The Seal is an identification granted by Brasil’s Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture to biodiesel producing industries that meet the established criteria. Currently, the program serves 54 thousand families per year. Numbers are expected to expand to 70 thousand families, mainly in the Brazilian North, Northeast and Semi-Arid regions. If compared to 2022 data, it is estimated that the number of registered families will increase by 120% this year. Tax incentives are also provided to those who produce biofuels.
G20 Working Groups
In addition to the Bioeconomy Initiative (Iniciativa pela Bioeconomia), the G20 harbors a specific Agriculture Working Group whose central topics are sustainability in agrifood systems; expanding the contribution of international trade to food and nutritional security; recognizing the essential role of family farming, rural workers, indigenous peoples and traditional communities to sustainable, healthy and inclusive food systems; and promoting the sustainable integration of fishing and aquaculture into local and global social chains.
