Brazil is currently the world’s third largest food producer, as well as the third largest exporter of agricultural products, with a trade value of US$ 148 billion.
The country increasingly stands out in terms of the efficiency and quality of its food production, resulting in 900 million people being fed every year, using only 7% of its farming land.
Given the huge potential for growth and opportunities Brazil has related to food production and exports, the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), together with APEX-Brazil, launched the Agro.BR Project with the aim of expanding the country’s export portfolio by assisting rural entrepreneurs of all sizes, with the mission of bringing new opportunities and new clients to their businesses.
This initiative led to the creation of the ATeG + Export Project, a partnership between CNA’s International Relations Department (through the Agro.BR Project) and SENAR’s Technical and Management Assistance (ATeG). This project aims to profile and help small and medium-sized producers assisted by ATeG to open new markets and trading opportunities to other countries.
The project was launched in 2022 and is working initially in six Brazilian states and in three production chains: beekeeping, fruit farming, and coffee production. So far, 3,120 diagnostic survey forms have been applied to identify potential producers for the export market, who are assisted by ATeG.
Producers who take part in the project are assisted by ATeG and – for 24 months and free of charge – receive assistance from an Agricultural Science professional who offers help with technical and managerial issues in their production activities. This aims to increase the farmers’ production and income, as well as assist them with an Agro.BR advisor to help with issues relating to exporting products.
The project is expanding to identify, favor, and train new and more ATeG producers, with the aim of equipping them for the foreign market, therefore adding value to their products for the domestic market.
Luana Frossard Gomes de Aguiar is the Project Operationalization Coordinator at Brazil’s National Rural Learning Service (SENAR)