Mar 24, 2023

Conab Has a New Director and Greater Focus on Family Farmers

Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.

On Tuesday, a new director was appointed to run Brazil's National Supply Company (Conab). The new director is Mr. Edegar Pretto who was a state legislator in the state of Rio Grande do Sul for three terms and president of the legislature during the last term. He is a member of the Workers Party, which is the party of President Lula.

He has indicated that he will put renewed focus on actions concerning family farmers in Brazil. In the state legislature, he helped develop a program where family farmers could sell their animal-origin products statewide.

Along with a new director, there will also be a new leadership team. Part of his new leadership team will be Ms. Rosa Neide who has been appointed Director of Finance. She was previously Secretary of Education for the State of Mato Grosso. Mr. Thiago dos Santos was appointed Director of Operations. In his previous capacity, he was a public policy specialist for municipalities in Mato Grosso. The new Human Resource Director will be Mr. Lenildo Dias de Morais who is a researcher for Embrapa and a specialist in sustainable development.

A renewed focus on family farmers is also the reason why Conab, which used to be part of the Ministry of Agriculture, was moved over to the Ministry of Agrarian Reform. The Ministry of Agrarian Reform works closely with small family farmers and landless rural workers helping them to attain land and land titles.

The choice of Mr. Pretto to run Conab has been criticized by members of the agribusiness community for his close ties with the Movement of Landless Rural workers (MST)