Celestino Alves

Brazilian land reform pioneer who empowered rural communities through cooperative farming

Celestino Alves (1910-1982) revolutionized agrarian reform in Brazil through his creation of the Café Comunitário cooperative in 1945. A coffee farmer from Minas Gerais, he organized smallholders to collectively process and market their crops, bypassing exploitative middlemen. His 1953 Land Equity Manifesto influenced Brazil's 1964 Land Reform Law, though he faced persecution during the military regime. Alves' most notable achievement was the Serra da Mantiqueira Agricultural School, which trained over 10,000 farmers in sustainable practices. His philosophy of 'agro-solidarity' inspired similar movements across Latin America. The documentary Cultivo de Dignidad (2010) chronicles his life, though his personal writings like Terra e Trabalho remain unpublished.