Partnership between Sedap, Caixa, and Fepa benefits fishermen with the transfer of over R$ 40 million in credits
Throughout this week, the Secretary is meeting with workers from Baixo Amazonas to provide information about the acquisition of the benefit
Through a partnership between the State Secretariat for Agricultural Development and Fishing (Sedap), Caixa Econômica Federal, and the Federation of Fishermen of the State of Pará (Fepa), over a thousand fishermen from the Baixo Amazonas region are receiving, throughout this week, guidance on the criteria for the release of microcredit from the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf B). By July of this year, more than four thousand credits were approved for artisanal fishermen in the State, amounting to R$ 40 million released.
The first municipality visited was Santarém, where the meeting included 200 fishermen. Next, the activity moved to Monte Alegre, which recorded 500 participants. The program continued this Thursday (18) in the municipality of Juruti, which had the participation of 300 artisanal fishermen. The action will also be taken this Thursday to Terra Santa and will conclude this Friday (19) in Faro. Participating from Sedap are the director of fishing, Orlando Lobato, and the fishing coordinator, Salomão Guimarães.
Director Orlando Lobato, who opened the events, emphasized the importance of the partnership between federal and state entities with representatives of the category, facilitating access to credit for artisanal fishermen. He highlighted the work of the Federation of Fishermen of the State of Pará, which organized the affiliated fishermen's colonies with the issuance of the National Register of Family Agriculture (CAF).
According to the director, individualized assistance for credit analysis and release is being conducted by Cactvs, which is the company accredited by Caixa Econômica Federal. He explained, "The credit consists of a limit of R$ 12,000, with an interest rate of 0.5% per year, and, depending on the modality, it can have a rebate of up to 40% discount on the granted credit, with one year to pay. If the fisherman requests, for example, R$ 10,000 to buy an engine or other fishing equipment and pays within the established deadline, he will only pay R$ 6,000 and will have R$ 4,000 in discount, and this difference is for him to inject into his activity," explained Lobato.
After the meetings, the company is already conducting the credit analysis process for each fisherman for the issuance of credit, as informed by the director. "This partnership, to bring microcredit to the West of Pará is very important as it is another injection of financial resources into this region, in these municipalities. It is another incentive tool, as support for artisanal fishermen, who have one year to pay," reiterated the director, who emphasized the support of the State Governor, Helder Barbalho, and the Secretary of Agricultural Development and Fishing, Giovanni Queiroz, for the partnership that facilitated fishermen's access to rural credit.
"This work has important reach in the municipalities. It is a program that makes Sedap strongly present today and has already injected over R$ 40 million in microcredit, and the expectation is that we will have more fishermen served with this microcredit," he concluded.
Opportunity - For the fisherwoman from colony Z-20, in Santarém, Joelma Oliveira Vasconcelos, the program organized by Sedap is important for providing information on how workers can obtain their long-dreamed rural credit. A fisherman since childhood, a trade she learned in her family, she states that the resource will help improve her activity. "I found the meeting here very important. It is an opportunity for the fisherman to stimulate and invest in their work," she opined.
For the president of colony Z-20, Aguinaldo Rocha, this type of credit will benefit fishermen to meet their demands. "The entity has 7,200 accredited fishermen and access to credit is important for the work of the fisherman," he said.
The fishing coordinator of Sedap, Salomão Guimarães, informs that this is the second meeting held in the Baixo Amazonas region in this type of service, which, in addition to Santarém, covers fishermen from Juruti (colony Z-42), Terra Santa (Z-75), and Faro (Z-76). "We reinforce this institutional link overcoming the logistical barriers of the State of Pará, as the first meeting was a success in Monte Alegre, with more than 600 credits contracted for the fishermen of the municipality," he emphasized.
