"We have a strong connection with family farming; studying here is like being in a second home," says student Paulo Lopes about his experience as a student at the Rural Family Home (CFR) in Itapecuru-Mirim, Maranhão, where he attends high school. The home is part of a rural-focused educational context, where the Alternating Family Educational Centers (CEFFAs) work with young people and the children of family farming.
They are non-profit community institutions that adopt the pedagogy of alternation, in which students alternate periods of face-to-face schooling and application in family or community spaces in the countryside.. They involve a process of identifying local needs, jointly building solutions, valuing popular knowledge, sustainable development and a dignified stay in rural areas. They combine regular classes with subjects related to family farming and other social issues related to the region.
Today, in Brazil, there are more than 240 CFRs and approximately 157 Family Agricultural Schools (EFAs). In Maranhão, there are 18 CFRs and 19 EFAs, according to data from the Federation of Rural Family Homes of Maranhão (Fecafar), the Institute for Representation, Coordination and Advisory of Associations of Rural Family Homes in Maranhão (Ircoa) and the Union of Associations of Family Agricultural Schools of Maranhão (Uaefama).
CRFs and EFAs are generally coordinated by local community associations, composed of representatives of farming families, local community representatives, and educators, but they can also be managed by institutional partners such as rural workers' unions and churches. They are often supported by donations from students' families, agreements with organizations, partnerships with governments, and even fundraising through public or private funding.
Family succession
The countryside is facing a gradual decline in its rural population. In 2012, there were 30,2 million people, and by 2024, that number had fallen to 26 million. Maranhão remains one of the most rural states in the country: 2 million people live in rural areas, representing 28% of the state's total population. This data is from the Statistical Yearbook of Family Farming, prepared by the National Confederation of Rural Workers and Family Farmers (CONTAG) in conjunction with the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (DIEESE).
Olga Oliveira dos Anjos, agronomy tutor and head of the practical part of the CFR in the municipality of Zé Doca, emphasizes that the role of young people in rural areas is closely linked to family succession. Family farmers face difficulties in encouraging young family members to work on the production unit and remain on the farm.
"The role of these institutions is to show young people that they don't need to leave the countryside to find work opportunities. If they want to continue working in this field, whether as a family farmer on their own production unit or developing other professional activities that contribute to rural development, there are several possibilities, and the CEFFAs demonstrate these possibilities," explains the monitor.
Rural education initiatives provide access to contextualized education for the sons and daughters of family farmers, without having to leave their families. Young people divide their time between school and community, where, in addition to technical agricultural content, the school curriculum is guided by the principles of agroecology.
Students like Paulo Lopes have experience working on their family farms, raising small animals and growing food for sale and for their own consumption. This is also the case for student Jaciele Oliveira, the daughter of farmers, who works at the Zé Doca CFR and gains knowledge to continue improving the work her parents already do.
"Besides learning, we gain experience. We get hands-on and learn new things to apply to our family's land. The agroforestry system is one of those new things I learned here at CFR, a system I can take back to my community and replicate with my parents," comments Jaciele Oliveira.
Training for agroecological transition
To strengthen the environmental conservation movement integrated with the generation of sustainable income for rural families, the Society, Population and Nature Institute (ISPN) in partnership with the CFRs of Itapecuru-Mirim and Zé Doca, and also the EFA of the municipality of Cantanhede (MA), promoted the course “Fundamentals and Ecology of Agroforestry Systems”.
Approximately 40 young students from the units participated in the training, which took place in October and November 2024. In addition to the training, which combined theory and practice, the students were able to experience the process of implementing an Agroforestry System (SAF) on the institutions' land in January of this year. Teachers, members of local communities, and representatives of associations and unions participated in the training process.
It was during the course that Ana Clara Rodrigues, a young CFR student from Itapecuru-Mirim, had her first in-depth exposure to this way of working the land. SAF presents itself as an alternative for restoring degraded areas in her area. "Despite being a rural region, my village has many degraded areas. I believe these areas can be restored with SAF. It's a system with great potential for our region," she states.
The daughter of family farmers, Ana Clara already farms pigs for her own consumption, but believes that SAF can represent a step forward for her community. "It was a very enriching experience participating in the course, both for meeting new people from other places and for the content. I wasn't very familiar with SAF, and now I see how much it can help the environment, generate income, and reforest degraded areas," she comments.
And it is in this agroecological transition—a gradual process of shifting from conventional systems to systems based on agroecological principles, striving for sustainability—that rural youth can play a leading role. This is the view of Paulo Henrique Coelho, coordinator of the Cantanhede EFA, who sees great potential in training young people to disseminate agroforestry as a solution to address the climate crisis.
"Young people from rural families are our rural successors; they will take over the leadership of communities and associations. They are the future of this community, and this future will have greater access to information and the ability to implement Agroforestry Systems in their family production units and also in the communities surrounding their schools, municipalities, and rural areas," explains the EFA coordinator.
Agroforestry Systems
Although still relatively new, the AFSs implemented as a practical component of the "Fundamentals and Ecology of Agroforestry Systems" course are already transforming the landscape of CFRs and EFAs. The experience of restoring a spring in the Cantanhede EFA implementation area demonstrates how AFS is an important tool for restoring degraded areas, combining fruit trees and timber with agricultural crops and/or livestock to optimize land use, balancing food production and environmental conservation.
In addition to restoring the environment, this system represents a sustainable and resilient alternative, helping to balance the local climate and promoting mitigation and adaptation to climate change. ISPN consultant and forestry engineer Luan Harmon, who taught the course and oversaw the implementation of SAFs in schools, states that the impact of this differentiated education is transformative.
"Young people are interested not only in the productive aspect, but also in the system's role in soil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, and improving the quality of life in rural areas. They are highly motivated when they understand the logic of forest strata and ecological succession, and even more so when the time comes to put it all into practice, participating in the planting process and seeing the system take shape before their very eyes," he comments.
CEFFAs seek to strengthen the sense of community and collective experience, training more than just rural workers: they build autonomy, critical thinking, and develop various skills. One of the main goals of these institutions is to demonstrate that it is possible to live and work in the countryside with dignity, without having to migrate due to lack of opportunities.
Other initiatives and support
ISPN launched in 2024 the Didactic Notebook on Agroecology and Sociobiodiversity of the Cerrado, aimed at educators and students of CEFFAs and technical courses related to family farming. The booklet offers contextualized content on agroecology and sociobiodiversity in the Cerrado, aligned with the realities of the field and the principles of the Pedagogy of Alternation. The objective is to support technical and human development, strengthening sustainable practices and the identity of family farming in the region.
Still within the scope of supporting and strengthening community initiatives, calls for proposals 38 and 39 of the ISPN Ecos Fund, launched in 2024, focused on the selection of initiatives led by women and youth in the context of rural education. Ten projects executed by CEFFAs in Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás, including a project submitted by the CFR of Zé Doca to Notice 38.
This isn't the first time the CFR has accessed the Ecos Fund. In 2019, funding from the public notice enabled the construction of a new school building, significantly expanding capacity and improving conditions for students and educators.
"For the management of the Zé Doca CFR, being considered again by the Ecos Fund is a source of joy and expectation, as it will allow us to complete works and improve infrastructure, expanding training opportunities for rural youth and helping to reduce the rural exodus," concludes monitor Olga Oliveira dos Anjos.