production and use of agrofuels.[40]A similar call was made in the Declaration of the High-Level Conference on World Food Security convened in Rome from 3 to 5 June 2008. Brazil should take a leading role in forging such a consensus. Any criteria developed at national or international level on the development of agrofuels should include the need to ensure that the development of agrofuels production increases the incomes of the poorest in the rural areas, for instance (as recommended in the preliminary conclusions of the International Conference on Biofuels held in São Paulo from 17 to 21 November 2008) by prioritizing the inclusion of small farmers in the production chains. That challenge — to ensure that agrofuels production shall not increase inequalities in rural areas — may be even more difficult to address than the challenges posed by compliance with environmental requirements and labour legislation. In Brazil, as elsewhere, there is a risk that crops for fuel will most often be grown by large agricultural producers or multinational companies that own or rent land for that purpose. Although, according to the 2009 National Commitment, 33 per cent of total production comes from “independent” sugar-cane producers, which include the 80,000 who produce less than 10,000 tons, the pace of mergers and acquisitions has increased significantly in recent years, leading to fears that production will be increasingly concentrated and that the trickle-down impacts on rural poverty will be less important.[41] 49. Partly in order to develop agrofuels that are more inclusive of family farming, Brazil most recently sought to encourage biodiesel production by establishing a national programme for biodiesel production and use that aimed at increasing production in a sustainable, socially inclusive manner by ensuring the use of different oilseeds well-adapted to different regions: castor, soybean, African palm, sunflower, babassu palm, peanut and Jathropa curcas. The programme includes measures for funding and establishing a “social fuel” seal (held by 93 per cent of biodiesel producers in December 2009) that rewards producers for purchasing raw materials from family agriculture with significant federal tax exemptions (from 68 to 100 per cent for producers in the northern region that buy palm oil from family farms or producers in the north-east and in the semi-arid region that buy castor oil from family farms), and more favourable credit from the national development bank and PRONAF. Concerns remain, however, as to how effective this policy has been so far, given that an estimated 76 per cent of the oilseeds still come from agribusiness and that between 75 and 90 per cent of the oilseeds are soy beans which are largely produced in a monocrop basis, by large agricultural establishments.[42] These establishments employ as few as 18 workers per 1,000 ha; more than 90 per cent use pesticides, chemical fertilizers and mechanization; and as many as 46 per cent use GMO seeds.[43] 7. Citizens’ Territory Programme 50. The Citizen’s Territory Programme is an inter-ministerial initiative coordinated by the Ministry of Agrarian Development and implemented by 22 ministries, deploying roughly 200 policies in those territories found to have the lowest human development in the country. The programme originally focused on 60 areas and has now been extended to a total of 120 territories, with a current budget of R$ 25 billion, or roughly US$ 14 billion. These areas include 62 per cent of the low-income municipalities in Brazil, cover 52 per cent of the national territory and 24 per cent of its population, including more than half of the indigenous population and twothirds of the Quilombola population. By combining multiple policies simultaneously in persistently poor regions, the Government expects to accelerate their development and make them converge with the national averages. This strategy constitutes a welcome recognition of the fact that only policies that target the most vulnerable have a chance of succeeding. At the same time, geographical coverage of certain regions cannot be a substitute for targeting the poorest households in the relatively wealthier areas. VI. Conclusions and recommendations 51. The Special Rapporteur commends Brazil for its remarkable progress in the realization of the right to food since 2002. It has achieved significant results in reducing malnutrition and poverty by setting up food security laws and institutions that promote the right to food; by creating and subsequently scaling up “Zero Hunger” programmes; and by providing noteworthy support for family farming. However, major challenges remain. The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations: (a) Brazil should strengthen the protection of the right to food by the establishment of an independent national institution for the promotion and protection of human rights, in accordance with the Paris Principles, as it committed itself to do under the universal periodic review process;[44] (b) The National Food and Nutritional Security System (SISAN) should be further strengthened by the adoption of a national strategy for the realization of the right to food, establishing clear benchmarks with associated time frames, identifying responsibilities across different branches of Government, and ensuring an adequate monitoring of the objectives set; (c) The capacity of the Federal Public Ministry should be strengthened, allowing it to make greater proactive use of the constitutional guarantees to ensure the realization of the right to food; (d) The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to ensure that, in the process of regularization of land in the Amazon region and elsewhere, due consideration be given to the rights of indigenous peoples and other traditional communities. The National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) must be given the means to effectively carry out its tasks related to demarcation issues and guaranteeing access to other State programmes, including those of the “Zero Hunger” strategy. Moreover, he invites the Government to include in its regularization process a strong commitment to reducing land concentration and ensuring an effective and sustainable occupation pattern for the region, making sure that environmental, market-access and other considerations guide the titling of land. With respect to grilagem, the Special Rapporteur invites the Government to pursue all necessary measures to ensure that land registration throughout the country produces a single, clear and consolidated land-ownership framework, under which land ownership is accompanied by the responsibility to fulfil the social function of property, pay corresponding taxes and preserve the “legal reserve” within each establishment. The Government should accelerate the constitutionally mandated land demarcations for the indigenous, Quilombola and other traditional communities and, in the interim, better protect these communities from grilagem.