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 To the dismay of U.S. and global economists, Brazil’s left-wing presidential candidate Luis Inacio Lula da Silva seems positioned to be the country’s next leader, extending his lead in opinion polls to 66 percent. Many U.S. economists see Lula as a threat to American economic interests and Brazil’s economic stability within a stagnating global economy. Currently, some 50 million Brazilians live in poverty.
Since 1999, World Vision has been helping Brazilian farmers in the Pao de Acucar community build agricultural businesses through a cooperative called “Fair Trade.” World Vision helped some 3,000 family farmers grow organic peppers and melons while World Vision economists gained market access in Europe for the crops. Last year, farmers exported nearly 80,000 pounds of produce to other Latin American countries and Europe. They used their profits to buy food for their families, send their children to school and improve their community through local health care, sanitation and building projects.
“To understand our community, you have to talk in terms of the time before and after the fair trade program,” said Pao de Acucar mayor Jorge Dantas.
On September 10, the Inter-American Development Bank gave World Vision (“Visao Mundial” in Brazilian) its Award for Excellence in Business Development Services in Rio de Janeiro at the bank’s fifth annual “Inter-American Forum on Microenterprise.”
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