Families affected by drought in RS will receive Bolsa Família advance – 02/23/2023 – Market

After the visit of a delegation of ministers to the municipality of Hulha Negra, in the region of Campanha do Rio Grande do Sul, about 370 kilometers from Porto Alegre, the federal government announced the details of the first emergency measures against the drought in RS.

As announced to those affected by the historic storm on the coast of São Paulo in recent days, families from Rio Grande do Sul will have the Bolsa Família payment in advance.

According to Minister Wellington Dias (Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger), 30,000 families will benefit from advances of up to R$2,400. Payments will be made on March 20th. According to the government’s calculations, around R$ 30 million will be invested through Bolsa Família.

The measure is part of a package of R$ 430 million already made available by the federal government and announced on the eve of the ministers’ visit.

In addition to Dias, ministers Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture), Carlos Fávaro (Agriculture and Livestock) and Paulo Pimenta (Secretary of Social Communication of the Presidency), as well as Adriana Melo, secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, were in Rio Grande do Sul. of Integration and National Development, and Edegar Pretto, president of Conab (National Supply Company).

Minister Paulo Teixeira confirmed the expansion of the Installation Credit by R$5,200 per family, which will benefit 10,000 of them. This type of credit is paid by Incra through the National Agrarian Reform Program to settled families to encourage the development of the first productive activities.

The expansion of this type of credit is part of the R$ 300 million package to be disbursed via micro-credit by the Ministry of Agrarian Development.

Teixeira also promised to take to the Ministry of Finance a formal request for forgiveness of recent debts of producers in Rio Grande do Sul with Pronaf (National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture), given that the drought in RS has been repeated for three years out of the last four years.

Another R$ 100 million should be invested via the Ministry of Integration and National Development in measures such as the hiring of water trucks and the purchase and donation of basic food baskets and fuel, among other actions. The measures must serve around 300 municipalities in the state.

The delegation visited the settlement of Meia Água, in Hulha Negra, a municipality of 6,600 people where hundreds of families of landless rural producers were settled in the 1990s.

The ministers visited the property of Sirinei Santos, a settled farmer who saw the monthly production of milk fall from 4,400 liters to 1,500 liters with the shortage of water and pasture for the cattle. The municipality has not recorded rain in a relevant amount for more than 90 days.

Governor Eduardo Leite (PSDB) decided at the last minute to travel to the ministers and promised to take two demands to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that, in his understanding, are based on the assumption that the drought will be a problem to be fought in RS continuous form.

The first is the inclusion of RS among the states serviced by the federal government by water trucks during drought cycles, such as those in the Northeast. The second is the release of environmental legislation for the construction of new dams.

As reported by the Sheet, the lack of rain has once again punished Rio Grande do Sul’s crops this year, in addition to emptying dams and making conditions difficult for raising cattle. Gaucho municipalities already estimate a loss of R$ 13 billion with the new drought in 2023, according to data released on the 17th by the state government. On that day, 307 municipalities had already declared an emergency situation due to the drought.

The Government of Rio Grande do Sul also indicated that projections for soybean and corn production were revised downwards by 20.8% and 30.6%, respectively.