The bill passed through Brazil's Chamber of Deputies last month and was approved in the Senate last night. It now heads for the President's signature. If approved, the move will grant land title to 300,000 properties illegally established across some 600,000 square kilometres of protected Amazon forest.

The rules set by Provisory Measure (MP) number 458, signed by Brazilian President Lula da Silva in February 2009, target mainly areas of the so called Legal Amazon – Brazil's largest socio-geographic area – raising major concerns and coming in for significant criticism from different groups within society.

On one hand, government members say that the project is going to help the forest out of deforestation; on the other hand environmentalists argue it is going to benefit land owners only, and that it will be the last straw for an Amazon rain forest already on its way to destruction.

Ana Cotta/Used with permission

Ana Cotta/Used with permission

Ana Cotta/Used with permission. A series of photos titled: "The beginning, the middle and the end"

Provisory Measure 458 allows the Government to transfer, without official bidding, up to 1.5 thousand hectares of its properties to settlers of the Legal Amazon areas. In a report published on Amazonia [pt], a website specialized in forest matters, Flávio Bonanome points out some problems:

Contrariando as últimas declarações polêmicas do Ministro do Meio Ambiente, Carlos Minc, que colocou a Medida Provisória 458 como uma “Vitória Ambientalista”, o especialista em ocupação humana e conflitos agrários na Amazônia e professor do Departamento de Geografia da Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Ariovaldo Umbelino de Oliveira, criticou a medida e afirmou que “A MP fere o princípio constitucional de função social da terra” (…)

Durante sua exposição, que durou cerca de 30 minutos, Oliveira criticou também os projetos fundiários do governo na Amazônia Legal. “O Estado não deveria alimentar assentamentos na Amazônia. Não há esta necessidade. O problema é que o Estado não criou mecanismos para regular suas próprias terras. Estão ao sabor das elites”, afirmou o pesquisador.

Ana Cotta/Used with permission

For some analysts, the main problem with the law is that it does not differentiate between those who want to work on the land; settling down and moving in with their families - typically low profile rural workers such as “posseiros” (peasant squatters); and those who only want to speculate on the land, getting as many plots as they can and then selling them at high prices. There are also “grileiros“, land-grabbers who make use of violence in order to not be informed against when breaking laws.

Former Environment Minister (2004-2008) and PT Party Senator for the Brazilian state of Acre, Marina Silva has written articles and voiced her concerns in an interview for Notícias da Amazonia [Amazonia News, pt] which has been reproduced on some blogs. She says:

Primeiro, dificilmente a pessoa vai declarar que a posse é ilegal, que a ocupação não foi mansa e pacífica. Outro aspecto é que, para passar a terra pública para um particular, há dois requisitos constitucionais: quando se trata de altíssima relevância social e quando cumpre com a função social da terra. Os que entraram ilegalmente e usaram violência não cumprem a função social, e quem tem posses e não há nenhum problema social a ser atendido também não cumpre esse preceito.

Além disso, foi estabelecido que, após três anos, pode haver a venda da propriedade. Isso cria uma espécie de processo de enxugar gelo. Quem assegura que ele não vai grilar nova terra para, daqui a alguns anos, outra MP legalizar o acesso novamente?

Marina Silva continues in the same article:

Quem estuda a situação fundiária sabe que, no caso da Amazônia, em menos de dez anos a terra é novamente concentrada nas mãos de poucos. Há um processo muito grande de concentração, até mesmo em projetos de assentamento. E também sabemos que há a figura do laranja, que divide uma propriedade com o cunhado, com o vaqueiro…

Ana Cotta/Used with permission

The Provisory Measure has been modified and approved by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The MP will still need Lula da Silva's approval or veto. As it is now, MP 458 modifies the legislation governing 64.7 million hectares in the Legal Amazon throughout 436 municipalities. Currently, the government will give ownership to others using the following criteria of land dimension: donating for up to 100 hectares; selling at a symbolic price for 101 to 400 hectares; and areas of between 401 and 1500 hectares will be on sale according to market price, with up to 20 year debt payoff.

Ironically, Katia Abreu was the Senator appointed to lead the MP through the Congress. She is the leader of the rural group, which deals with land owner and farmers' interests in the Senate. Elected by the State of Tocantins for the DEM Party, Abreu wants to increase the size of land that one person will be able to claim through MP 458, a move that has been criticized by many bloggers, such as Cândido Neto [pt]:

Aliás, a MP é problemática desde a origem. Afinal, a legislação agrária já permitia regularização de áreas até 500 hectares individualmente e outras formas de destinação com áreas maiores para populações tradicionais na Amazônia.

O aumento no tamanho de área visa atender unicamente ao setor ruralista e de grileiros, aliados do governo federal. Aliás, esta tal “regularização fundiária” nasceu com o ministro Mangabeira Unger, foi aplaudida por Carlos Minc e teve no MDA as piores idéias como a dispensa de vistorias, os títulos gratuitos e o fim das licitações em áreas de até 15 módulos. (…)

Agora, Kátia Abreu já fala em estender a área para 2,5 hectares, e ainda tornar a terra no preço “exeqüível”. São todas medidas absurdas, do começo ao fim.

For the blogger from Azul Marinho com Pequi [pt] blog, Senator Abreu's ideas are harmful:

A senadora pelo Tocantins: Kátia Abreu do DEM mau assumiu a relatoria da MP 458 no senado é já inicia manobras no sentido de entregar as terras da amazônia ao agronegócio e ao capital internacional, ou seja aos grileiros das terra federais!!

There is another MP - number 452 - which has been worrying the Brazilian society because it declares that there will be no need for previous environmental assessment or official environmental inspection before the construction of roads through areas in the Legal Amazon. Both MPs (458 and 452) are part of Lula da Silva's Growth Acceleration Program (known as PAC).

A group of non governmental organizations and artists have created a manifesto called Amazônia Para Sempre [Amazonia Forever, pt], in which they appeal to the Senators not to approve these MPs. Through their website they are calling Brazilian people to sign the manifesto to be sent to the Senators by e-mail. So far, 1 million people have signed the petition.

Cândido Neto's [pt] concludes that, should the package of rules make it into law, the following will have happened:

Inverte-se a prioridade de destinação de terras públicas que é pela ordem deve ser terras indígenas, unidades de conservação e assentamentos rurais.

Ana Cotta/Used with permission

However, the circumstances surrounding agriculture are changing. Farming is undergoing a makeover for better or worse, as covered by Scilla Alecci in ‘Japan: Agriculture the latest trend among celebrities‘. This follow-up post highlights some aspects of that change in an attempt to explore its scope.

Reporting for Duty by flickr user megabn

Farming and Food Safety

Growing concern for food safety is one of the factors that have contributed to this change in the way of thinking. The blog ‘What Japan Thinks' reported last year that ‘food safety worries five in six Japanese‘:

Q2: Which of the following do you strive to do regarding your eating habits ? (Sample size=1,089, multiple answer)

• Buy Japanese products as much as possible 69%
• Pay attention to the date of manufacture, use-by date, best before date, etc 66%
• Buy products with as few additives as possible 51%
• Limit use of prepared foods 25%
• Limit eating out 16%
• Other 3%
• Nothing in particular 6%

Many consumers don't mind paying extra to ensure that their food is 'safe', especially in the wake of an incident in 2008 when dozens were poisoned by frozen dumplings imported from China. In a typical example, Tamagomama lists some reminders in a blog post advising expectant mothers:

多少高くても「安全でいい食品」を買いましょうね。
できれば「生産者」の顔が見えるモノにしてください。
輸入品は避けましょう。
中国に限らずアメリカなどの食品も。
国産で皆さんの近くでとれたモノがいいです。
生産者の顔がわかるものがベストです。
家族の命をまもるためにも、他人が守ってくれるのではなく、我が身と家族は自分で守りましょう。

Farming and Unemployment

With the economy in steep decline, the government is looking to connect increased agricultural employment as one answer to rising unemployment, especially for temp workers with cancelled contracts.

Nina Fallenbaum reported on her participation in a pilot agriculture-experience program:

Here’s the very simple idea: send 18 to 40-year-old city slickers to rural communities for a free five-day trip to learn farming, meet local people, and perhaps be tempted to adopt that way of life for themselves. Administrated by an environmental nonprofit group, a grant from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture paid our food, bullet train fare, lodging — everything (and I’m not even a citizen!). Seems extravagant, but compared to the amount of money spent on recent bank bailouts it’s a very cheap form of stimulus — and benefits rural areas, young people, and the agricultural sector simultaneously.

Farming and the Internet

Here are some cases of people harnessing the power of the Internet.

Yasai8313, who produces rare vegetables, uses the Internet to
cultivate sales channels [ja]. Tomato farmer Shinichi Soga succeeded in connecting the popularity of his blog directly to sales, as covered by the Japan Times in ‘Younger farmers blogging their way to success‘. Seebit, a company that produces video content for the Web, runs a website that sells rice. They offer footage from an on-site Web camera so that people can see how the rice is growing. There's a social networking site for all people related to nogyo, Boku-nou (Our Agriculture), which also enables people to buy and sell farming equipment.

Online learning is available as well. Toshihide Muraoka introduced one such example on his blog:

秋田県農業研修センターが運営する「インターネットアグリスクール」が人気を集めています。インターネットを利用して、農業のやり方や秋田県の自然の知識を学ぶことができます。２００１年に開始して以降、東京、愛知、長崎など全国から約２００人が受講し、毎年、定員（３０人）はほぼ満員状態。スクールを通じて農業の魅力に引かれ、これまでに９人の受講生が県内で農業を始めています。

Farming and Other Industries

Companies and organizations in industries unrelated to farming are re-thinking their relationship with agriculture. In one example, marketer and blogger happy-kernel commented on the news that the Kakegawa City Amateur Sports Association in Shizuoka Prefecture is starting an agricultural farm business.

野菜嫌いな子どもたちに、野菜作りを手伝わせることで野菜嫌いがなくなったり、観察力が高まるという指摘もあるように、中年以降、お腹周りが気になり始めた運動不足の肉好きの人たちにとっては、運動を兼ねた野菜中心食へ転換できるきっかけとなるかも知れないのだ。
とすれば、体育協会がこのような試みをすることにも、意味があるだろう。
何よりも参加者にとっては｢新鮮・安心・安全な野菜｣と｢運動＋健康｣が手に入るのだ。
今後このようなアプローチの｢健康作り｣が、注目されていくのかも知れない。

In conclusion

Most Japanese farms are small and family-oriented, and the image of ojiichan and obaachan (grandpa and grandma) tending to their plot of land day in and day out, a typical setting in Japanese folklore, isn't that far from present reality. What will happen next? Where these trends will lead to is yet to be seen, but it's all part of one big and developing wave.

Map courtesy http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/Abid_Jaljala/28950257

While Hydroelectric projects are typically considered greener than other power generation options in short term, it has significant long-term impact to the environment like changes in the ecosystem, destroying nearby settlements and changing habitat conditions of people, fish and wildlife. Especially in the densely populated countries like India and Bangladesh, where rivers are lifelines, projects like Tipaimukh will create adverse effect to a huge number of population and their habitats.

No wonder right from the start this project faced protests from potentially affected people in India, and from the downstream neighbor Bangladesh. The people of Manipur have been fighting legally to stop the project but have so far been unsuccessful. The Indian government is going ahead with the plan. The Sinlung Indigenous People Human Rights Organisation (SIPHRO) of India said that “the process for choosing it (the project premises) ignored both the indigenous people and the recommendations of the WCD (World Commission on Dams)”.

From Bangladesh journalist and blogger Dhibor says:

এই বাঁধ তৈরির কি অজুহাত হিসেবে বলা হচ্ছে, আসামের বন্যা নিয়ন্ত্রন এবং জল বিদ্যুত উৎপাদন করে, উঃ পুর্ব ভারতের মানুষদের প্রভুত কল্যাণে এই বাধ নির্মিত হবে। পাঠকদের জ্ঞাতার্থে জানাচ্ছি যে, আন্তর্জাতিক পানি আইন অনুসারে, ভাটির দেশের পুর্ণ সম্মতি ছাড়া এবং পরিবেশের ক্ষতি করে কোন দেশই একতরফাভাবে নদী শাসন করতে পারবে না। তবে পরিতাপের বিষয় হলো, আন্তর্জাতিক আইন মানতে কোন দেশ বাধ্য নয়। এখানে জোর যার মুল্লুক তার হিসেবেই এই আইন প্রযোজ্য। ভারতের তুলনায় আমাদের অর্থনৈতিক-সামরিক বা খুটির জোর অল্প বলে, আমাদের মার খেয়ে যেতেই হচ্ছে।

উঃ পুর্ব ভারতের অধিবাসিদের নাকের সামনে টিপাইমুখি বাধের মুলো ঝুলিয়ে রাখা হলেও, তারা পঃ বঙ্গের অধিবাসিদের মত ভোলেননি। তাই এই বাধের বিরুদ্ধে সেখানে তীব্র প্রতিবাদ হচ্ছে। মনিপুরের ২০টি প্রভাবশালি সামাজিক রাজনৈতিক সংগঠন, “একশন কমিটি এগেইনস্ট টিপাইমুখ ড্যাম” এর ব্যানারে রাজপথে নেমেছেন। কারণ এতে উঃপুর্ব ভারতের লাভের চেয়ে লোকসানটাই বেশি হবে। আর প্রভুত ক্ষতি হবে পরিবেশের।

From India Namdingpou Kamei at E-Pao lists the losses and destruction this dam will bring to the local people.

# A total area of land 286.20 sq. km will be submerged forever.
# Barak waterfalls and Zeilad Lake, which are connected with the history of the Zeliangrong people, will be forever underwater and all folklores and legends will have no monuments' proof and it will become a make up story for the next generation.
# More than, 40,000 people will be rendered landless.
# Eight villages situated at the Barak Valley will be completely underwater.
# More than 90 villages mostly of Tamenglong district will be adversely affected.
# About 27,242 hectares of cultivable land will be lost. [..]

The Indian government has offered the Manipur state 10% free electricity (i.e. 40 MW) from the project in exchange of above.

The Hmar indigenous population of North East India fears that:

if the government plows ahead with its proposed dam “thousands of outsiders” will come to settle in the area and as a result the Hmars will be exposed to changes like never before to new culture, economy and politics.

Dr. Soibam Ibotombi of Dept. of Earth Sciences, Manipur University says that the dam will be a geo-tectonic blunder of international dimensions:

The site selected for Tipaimukh project is one of the most active in the entire world, recording at least two major earthquakes of 8+ in the Reichter Scale during the past 50 years. The proposed Tipaimukh HEP is envisaged for construction in one of the most geologically unstable area as the proposed Tipaimukh dam axis falls on a ‘fault line’ potentially active and possible epicenter for major earthquakes.

At BanglaPraxis the impact of Tipaimukh dam in Bangladesh has been discussed.

Paribartan Bangla writes [bn] that several campaigns are ongoing in Sylhet, Bangladesh protesting the Tipaimukh dam. The blogger describes:

এই বাঁধ নির্মিত হলে সিলেট, সুনামগঞ্জ, মৌলভীবাজার, হবিগঞ্জ, ব্রাহ্মণবাড়িয়া, কিশোরগঞ্জ, নেত্রকোনা, নরসিংদী ও নারায়ণগঞ্জ জেলাসহ দেশের সমগ্র উত্তর-পূর্বাঞ্চলে মারাত্মক পরিবেশ ও আর্থিক বিপর্যয় নেমে আসবে। কৃষি, মৎস্য, জীববৈচিত্র্য হুমকির মুখে পড়বে। বর্ষাকালে প্রবল বন্যা আর শীতকালে পানির জন্য হাহাকার দেখা দিবে।

No to Tipaimukh Dam

Blogger Agami calls other bloggers [bn] to engage in online and offline campaigns to stop the project. A Facebook group has already been created by the bloggers. An online petition has been launched by the “Action Committee against Tipaimukh Project”.

Anandomoye writes [bn]:

উন্নত দেশগুলো যখন স্বল্প ও দীর্ঘমেয়াদি কুফলের কথা বিবেচনা করে বাঁধের মতো অবকাঠামো নির্মাণের মাধ্যমে প্রকৃতিকে নিয়ন্ত্রণের দুর্বুদ্ধি থেকে পিছিয়ে আসছে, সেখানে ভারতের এমন একটি বাঁধ নির্মাণের প্রস্তুতি আরো গভীর পর্যালোচনার দাবি রাখে।