Rural productive inclusion: the technical assistance experience and grant from the State of Ceará, Brazil

Abstract

The WWP’s fourth case study details the challenges involved in and lessons learned from implementing the Rural Productive Activities Oriented Cash Transfer in the state of Ceará, in northeastern Brazil. The program was spearheaded by the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company (EMATERCE) of Ceará, which adapted its structure to serve 20,000 families living in extreme poverty. The Oriented Cash Transfer incentivizes small rural farmers to improve their animal husbandry and agricultural production practices by offering non-refundable resource transfers and technical assistance and rural extension (ATER) services.