Young agroecology multipliers take part in the preparatory stage for the 3rd Conference on Sustainable Rural Development and Solidarity

By Joelma Carla, Literature teacher and political activist , and Sival Fiuza, Literature student at UFRPE/UAST

Between June 11 and 13, the sectoral stage of preparation for the 3rd Conference on Sustainable Rural Development and Solidarity took place in the city of Recife, promoted by the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming (MDA) and the National Council for Sustainable Rural Development (Condraf). The meeting brought together young people from all five regions of the country (North, Northeast, Midwest, South and Southeast) and featured an extensive program, with round tables, proposal circles, artistic and cultural interventions, the participation of support institutions and parliamentarians. The aim was to debate the direction of rural Brazil, with a focus on strengthening public policies aimed at the youth of the countryside, forests and waters.

The Commission of Young Agroecology Multipliers (CJMA) was represented by Adriano Ferreira, Joelma Carla, Roseane Alves and Sival Fiuza. Together, they contributed to the discussions and approval of the proposals that will be debated at the national stage of the Conference, scheduled to take place in 2026. They also reaffirmed their commitment to defending the Good Life and access to the public policies needed by our country’s diverse rural youth.

During the process of listening and proposing, strategic themes were debated, such as access to land and territory, contextualized education, rural succession, confronting racism and violence, popular communication, political participation, agroecology and strengthening the popular and solidarity economy. All these points are in line with the structuring axes of the 3rd Conference’s Reference Document, which seeks to reposition the countryside as a space for life, culture and resistance, based on principles such as food sovereignty, environmental justice, development with equity and participatory democracy.

“These were days of learning and valuable exchanges between the rural youth of our country. It was also a moment to reaffirm our struggle in defense of the countryside, the waters, the forests, the traditional peoples and communities. We are defending public policies that can transform the reality of our youth, starting with their permanence in the countryside,” said teacher Joelma Carla.

Being in this space to build our rights as rural youth is fundamental to strengthening our voices, our struggles in the territories and the public policies that guarantee Good Living in the countryside. For this reason, the young people present reinforced their commitment to the guiding principles of the 3rd Conference, such as strengthening agroecology, socio-environmental justice, expanding participatory democracy and the leading role of young people, women and the peoples of the countryside, waters and forests.

Sival Fiuza, a member of the CJMA, was elected a delegate and will represent young people at the national stage of the 3rd Conference. In his speech, he highlighted the importance of young people not just as beneficiaries, but as active agents in the formulation of public policies. According to Sival, “we reaffirm the leading role of youth in building a fairer, agro-ecological rural Brazil with real popular participation. We are young people from the countryside, the forests, the waters and traditional communities who believe in the power of collective organization, agroecology and democracy.”

We believe that it is with boldness, struggle and collective construction that we will transform the reality of rural youth in Brazil. Young people who dare to fight build popular power in the territories, in the networks and in the spaces of political incidence. We will not give up being protagonists in the formulation and social control of public policies that guarantee a dignified life for young people in the countryside, waters and forests. We continue together, building a future in which living in the countryside is a dignified, agro-ecological choice full of hope.