EXPERIENCES

The Special Secretariat for Family Agriculture and Agrarian Development carries out the National Programme of Seeds and Plants for Family Farming (PNSMAF). Its objective is to increase family farmers' access to quality seeds and plants adapted to the territory, in order to strengthen agro-food systems based on agroecology. All this is done by supporting programmes and actions aimed at the production, improvement, recovery, conservation, multiplication and distribution of seeds. Among its actions are the following:

• Distribution of seeds to peasant organisations
• Public purchase of traditional seeds from family farming by the National Supply Company (Conab). It is this public entity that will then distribute these seeds to the peasant organisations that request them.
• Traditional seed banks in the Northeast region. It supports the creation of traditional and commercial seed banks produced by family farmers with the aim of guaranteeing, in the long term, the autonomy of rural workers. Through agreements, the government wants to encourage projects that value family farming and seed production autonomously. So far, 640 banks have been set up and there are more than 12,000 families in the programme. Seed distribution works as follows: states buy seeds and plants through tenders and distribute them to farmers. Many plant what they are given, although this may not be appropriate. The aim of these measures is to increase the autonomy of farmers so that they can also decide what to plant, without depending on government decisions.