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CATI:Anoverviewoftheinstitutionandits

activities

By Cristina Sette

September 13, 2013

Overview of the agricultural sector in Sao Paulo State, in a national context

The State of São Paulo, located in the Southeast part of

Brazil, has the highest GDP of Brazil (R$ 1.24 trillions) and

one of the most important economies of Latin America.

Sao Paulo State has a diversified farming system, going

from very small properties, rural settlements, Quilombos1,

to middle and large exporting farms. Sao Paulo State is also

a large populated State, with the most important port of

Brazil, which favors exports.

São Paulo is the biggest producer of sugarcane (55.6%) and

orange (74.9%) in Brazil, which requires large extensions of

land and labor intense, characteristics of non-family agriculture. However, the State has a

significant proportion of staple food production in the hands of family farming, which represent

66.3% of the total farming systems in Sao Paulo, occupying 14.7% of the total State area engaged in

agricultural production.

In the national context, family agriculture in Brazil plays a major role in producing food, as

illustrated in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Family Farming Production (Source: IBGE, 2006)

Commodity

% of the Total National

Production

Cassava 83

Beans 69.6

Maize 45.5

Coffee 38

Rice 33

Wheat 21

Milk 58

Pork 59

Poultry 51

Beef 30

The national proportion of family agriculture is 84.36%, distributed on 24% of the total agrarian

land. The national average size for a family property is 18,34ha, while for non-family agricultural

system is 313,3 ha.

1Quilombos are settlements for mainly African origin slaves who escaped from plantations, and other marginalized

minorities (Brazilian aboriginals, Jews and Arabs), created during colonization.

2

In relation to income, in 2006, according to IBGE, only 69% of small holder farmers declared to have

an income. From those who declared an income, the average annual income was of R$14,000

($6,160) with the sales of vegetables, and animals and its products. According to IBGE, 1.7 million

farmers declared to have alternative sources of income, mainly from retirement pensions (65%)

and salaries from activities outside the farm (24%). Other sources of income reach small holder

farmers through social programs, such as Bolsa Familia, a cash transfer program.

In terms of agricultural activities and land use at national level, family agriculture and non-family

agriculture shares similar percentages, as illustrated in Table 2 below.

Table 2. Brazilian Land Use (Source: IBGE, 2006)

Land Use (%)

Pasture

Agro-

forest

systems Farming Preservation

Family Agriculture 45 24 22 9

Non Family

Agriculture 48.8 28 17 6.2

Public technical assistance and rural extension in São Paulo State is conducted by the Directorate of

Technical Assistance (Coordenadoria de Assistência Técnica Integral - CATI). Other institutions

provide technical assistance and rural extension services in São Paulo, such as inputs companies,

NGOs, farmers associations, and rural unions.

Overview of CATI and its structure2

The Directorate of Technical Assistance (CATI) is part of the Sao Paulo State Secretariat of

Agriculture and Supply, supervised by the State Governor’s office. It differs from other States in

Brazil for its lack of autonomy to negotiate State resources allocation. In other States, like Minas

Gerais, the head of the extension agency (EMATER) negotiates directly with the Governor’s office

the State priorities and resources.

CATI’s HQ is located in Campinas, but is

present in almost all municipalities of São

Paulo State. The State is divided into 40

regions and each region contain Houses of

Agriculture (Casa da Agriculture), which are

small units responsible for interacting with

farmers and implementing CATI’s projects and

programs. A total of 594 CATI offices (Houses

of Agriculture) spread in all regions assist 645

municipalities, with around 324, 600 units of

agrarian production (UPAs). From those UPAs,

48% benefit from CATI’s technical assistance,

2 http://www.cati.sp.gov.br/new/index.php

Figure 1. Regional

distribution of São Paulo

State

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while 30% are assisted by private technicians. About 22% do not require or benefit from technical

assistance (Source: CATI 2007 census LUPA http://www.cati.sp.gov.br/projetolupa/).

CATI’s services are as following:

• Support to farmers to access microcredit (Sao Paulo State credit for expanding agriculture –

FEAP; National Program for Family Agriculture - PRONAF)

• Selling of certified seed and seedlings

• Access to economic, social and environmental projects

• Access to project CATI milk, to improve livestock production and milk quality

• Access to information about new programs, projects and public policies (e.g. PAA – Program

to Acquire Food; PNAE – National Program to School Feeding; CONAB – National Company

for Supply); Program Pro-Tractor)

• Capacity building for rural producers and workers

• Support to Municipal Councils for Rural Development in policy formulation

The structure of CATI follows a vertical management structure, with a general coordinator

appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. Usually CATI’s coordinator is selected among CATI’s staff.

The Secretary of Agriculture members are nominated by the Governor. The career development in

CATI is based on two criteria: time in service and merit. The initial salary of a CATI’s technician is

about R$3,800 ($1650).

Overview of resources designated to CATI and its distribution

CATI depends on the State resources allocated to the Secretary of Agriculture, which corresponds

to 0.85% of the total State budget (Source: São Paulo State Budget 20133), a figure which has been

decreasing with years, according to Mr. Maiorano, Regional Director of CATI.

Figure 2. Agricultural Budget Distribution (Source: São Paulo State Budget)

Figure 2 illustrates the total agricultural budget allocation, under the State Secretariat of

Agricultural and Supply. For operational activities, CATI received in 2012 4.9% of the total budget.

3 http://www.planejamento.sp.gov.br/noti_anexo/files/Lei_14925_de_28-12-12.pdf

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Since 2006 the Secretariat of Agriculture and Supply of Sao Paulo State does not have an agreement

with Federal government. Therefore, Sao Paulo State does not participate directly in Federal

programs, or receive Federal resources. The lack of a relationship is heavily related to political

disputes, between the State and the Federal government.

In addition to State resources, CATI participates in projects and programs financed by external

donors, such as UNDP and the

World Bank. An example of a

program is called Microbacias I

and II (Watershed I and II), which

will be described later.

Overview of CATI’s

technical assistance

approach and programs

From the interviews carried out,

it was perceived that CATI’s main

activity is to support farmers to

access microcredit (e.g.

PRONAF4, FEAP5). CATI has also

other activities, such as the

development and

commercialization of seeds and

seedlings, and fostering

watershed projects. CATI’s main

focus, since its creation, is to

work within the agricultural

property, helping farmers with

production and productivity.

CATI supports the implementation of Federal programs, mainly by disseminating information about

the programs among farmers, but does not receive resources from these programs, such as the

Food Acquisition Program (PAA6) or the National School Feeding Program (PNAE)7.

4 The National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (PRONAF) provides financial support to agricultural

activities or not (e.g. rural tourism and handicraft production) explored through direct employment of the labor force of

the farmer and his family. http://www.cati.sp.gov.br/new/projetosprogramas.php?ID=1 5 Funds for Expansion of Agribusiness (FEAP) is a fund of the State of São Paulo, linked to the Secretary of Agriculture,

which strengthens and supports the development of farmers, artisanal fishery, their cooperatives and associations

across the State, through lines of credit for various agricultural activities.

http://www.cati.sp.gov.br/new/projetosprogramas.php?ID=7 6 Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (PAA), created in 2003 and managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock

(MAPA) 7 Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (PNAE), initially created in 1955, but reformulated in 1983. The program is

managed by the Ministry of Education. In 2009, a new law determines the use of at least 30% of the resources to be

spent purchasing products from family farms, giving priority to agrarian reform, and traditional and indigenous

communities. http://portal.mda.gov.br/portal/saf/programas/alimentacaoescolar

Box 1. Municipality Itatiba

Itatiba is a municipality located 80km from Sao Paulo city, and was considered

the third city with highest life quality in Brazil, according to the IFDM index for

employment and income, education and health1. The Itatiba region has high

productions of fruit and counts with the presence of cooperatives for fruit

producers (e.g. Coop in Jundiai).

Farmers are well organized and about 80% of properties fall under the family

farming category.

The agronomist Mr Jose da Silva works with a small team of agronomists at the

CATI’s station in Itatiba, which comprises 773 units of agrarian production

(UPAs), going from 1 hectare (10,000m2) to 2000 hectares. From those units, 409

do not make use of technical assistance (Source: CATI 2007 census LUPA.

The farmers in the region are diversifying income by engaging in ecotourism.

There are initiatives among quilombolas, but outside the agricultural sector, such

as ethnical restaurants and rural tourism.

Most challenges faced by small holder producers are not related to technical

assistance, or the production per se, but commercialization of products.

Other challenges faced by farmers are related to lack of rural labor to support

production, and the real estate speculation, which due to the location of the

Itatiba municipality, closer to high populated urban centers and industrial areas,

sees farmers selling their land to investors.

Most of the daily routine of Itatiba’s House of Agriculture consists of assisting

farmers to have access to microcredit, on which CATI receives 1,5% of the total

requested by the farmer.

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Monitoring and Evaluation approaches

CATI’s projects and activities do not have monitoring and evaluation systems, or indicators. The

State Planning and Budget Office works with ‘goals’ for each activity, for accountability purpose.

Projects financed by external donors

have indicators, set by the donors (e.g.

World Bank). In terms of planning,

there is an annual planning done by the

Secretary of Agriculture, which includes

the overall operational planning. Each

“House of Agriculture” does a monthly

plan with the regional coordinators at

CATI, based on resources available and

annual goals.

Overview of CATI’s involvement in the development and implementation of

PNATER

CATI had some participation in the development of the national policy PNATER, but it took some

time for technicians at CATI to incorporate the PNATER language and approach. Before PNATER,

CATI worked with small, medium and large farmers, and after the PNATER the denominations

changed and family agriculture, as a farming system and characteristic, was made more prominent.

Foresight work done by CATI

About future tendencies for the agricultural sector in Sao Paulo State, Mr Maiorano indicated that

he has no knowledge of foresight discussions among senior management.

Example of a successful program

CATI is implementing a project called Microbacias II (Watershed II), funded by the World Bank with

a $78 million loan from 2010 to 2015. The project

addressed two important issues: income and

employment in rural areas, targeting indigenous

communities and Quilombos. The original project

proposal can be found at the World Bank website8

The project, presented by Dr Abelardo from CATI, works

with indigenous communities who live in large protective

areas, with very low productivity and in extreme poverty 8 More information at http://www-

wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2009/02/11/000104615_20090211171652/Rendere

d/PDF/Integrated0Saf1et010Appraisal0Stage.pdf

Figure 3. Evaluation of product quality (Source:

Project document)

Box 2. Municipality Vinhedo

CATI’s station in Vinhedo has one CATI’s technician responsible for

the activities in the region, Mrs Klimionte. Vinhedo comprises 226

units of agrarian production (UPAs), going from 1 to 500 hectares.

From those units, 189 do not make use of technical assistance. The

majority of UPAs are of up to 5 ha (134 units, 59%).

CATI has no resources to make the CATI’s office in Vinhedo more

proactive. There are no resources to buy petrol to an old car parked

outside the office. Most of the work done in this station is towards

helping farmers to access PRONAF and other microcredit programs.

There are several potential programs and activities that the Vinhedo

office could perform, but lack of infrastructure and resources limits

the work of the technician.

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conditions. The project covers 1032 indigenous families, and 1699 quilombola families, in Sao Paulo

State. The project follows the “Dragon Dream9” approach and is composed of a multi-disciplinary

group, with sociologists,

agronomists, veterinaries and

private firms involved.

One of the activities of the project,

presented by Dr Abelardo, was

the support to a group of

indigenous families who cultivate

cassava. The project has

introduced new technologies and

practices to the group, who

changed the variety cultivated

and adopted improved techniques

to achieve a much higher

production. The project

introduced processing facilities

and techniques, which have provided

employment and a higher income for indigenous families who participate in the project.

The project results are systematically reported to the World Bank, following the monitoring and

evaluation approaches established by the Bank. The table below illustrates the results from the

Ekeruá indigenous community, where approaches for planning, monitoring, processing and

commercialization were applied.

Period

Cultivated

Area

Production

Harvested Productivity Income

2011/12 24 ha 240 tons 10,0 ton/ha R$ 72,000

2012/13 38 ha 450 tons 11,8 ton/ha R$ 219,000

2013/14 70 ha 1050 tons 15,0 ton/ha R$ 580,000

In total 43 families, involved in the production of cassava, direct benefit from the project. The

income is distributed according to the production of each family. In addition, 25 individuals,

members of the indigenous community, are employed in the cassava processing factory.

The project is considered very successful, mainly due to the following reasons:

• Participatory needs assessment and planning

• Training and capacity building

• Technical assistance

• Partnership with the private sector (market)

Challenges faced by CATI

Mr Maiorano indicated some main challenges for CATI, as an institution, and for its managers and

technicians. For 15 years CATI had no hiring, done through a public competition. The number of

9 Dragon Dreaming is a holistic method for the implementation of creative, collaborative, sustainable projects.

http://dragondreaming.org/en/dragon-dreaming/

Figure 4. . Cassava processing (Source: Project document)

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technicians is low to cover the number of properties to assist. Another related challenge is about

the contract stability of technicians. Contracts are difficult to be discontinued and the system does

not provide incentives for outstanding performance, or encourage awards.

According to Dr Aberlardo, the biggest challenge for institutions dealing with rural extension is the

technical education received by extension agents, who are not prepared to work with a different

paradigm than technology generation and diffusion.