1

PLANNING FOR THE

PROGRESSIVE VALIDATION METHOD - MVP
(ADAPTED FOR LAND REFORM SETTLEMENTS)

HORACIO MARTINS DE CARVALHO

Curitiba, October 2003.

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Index

1. Introduction.....3
2. The progressive validation.....4
3. The construction of the problem for the plan....5
4. Top-down and bottom-up planning.....10
5. Phases of the progressive validation method.....14
6. Basic elements of the settlement plan.....22
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1. Introduction

The method for the development of plans, programs, and projects proposed here is called
Progressive Validation Method - MVP, was built from four basic aspects:

provide participatory processes for the entire population involved, from the level
from social collectives to that of the singular family, in the fundamental phases of the process
decision-making in the development of a plan (program and/or project) so that this
population becomes the subject of decisions about the contents of the plan that it itself
selected;
provide situations for reflection and progressive decision-making by each one
of unique families and by the entire social collective involved in such a way as to
build a public commitment with indicative character between individual families and the
social collective that provides future references at the same time (scenarios
desired), the strategies and the means to achieve it;
breaking with the traditional procedures of creating plans based on a diagnosis
formalize the reality in order to subsequently reach the decision-making phase,
implementing a procedure in which the decision-making begins regarding what
you desire and aspire (desired scenarios) to gradually (multiple validations
decisions), through a process of problematizing the decision, one starts to take
awareness of the distance between the desired and the possible based on explanations of the real
confronted with various worldviews that allow for reconciling decisions
(desired goals) and possible and potential means for their achievement;
build a progressive relationship of validation of the decisions made at the levels of
social collective and each family singular that is at the same time widely
democratic and that builds an environment where awareness occurs in a way
dialogical and liberating.

In August 2002, a course on settlement planning was held in

Canguçu, Rio Grande do Sul, promoted by COCEARGS/MST/RS for technicians and
leaders from various regions of the State. In this course, a proposal was discussed.
bottom-up planning of agrarian reform settlements, as presented in
cap. 4. Top-down and bottom-up planning, hence, a proposal that later gave
origin to the current MVP method.

The MVP method was applied in the Conquista da Luta Settlement (Fazenda Rubira) in
municipality of Piratini in the State of Rio Grande do Sul during the conducting of a course on
settlement planning promoted by COOPTEC for technicians and settlers of the
various regions of the State, during the period from July to September 2003.

During the course, which took place in three stages, the settlement plan was developed, having
all the various dimensions of this method have been tested both from the standpoint of its
conception as in field situations in the interaction of singular family and the social collective. The
evaluations made by participants and by the settled rural workers present at
The course and those from the settlement subject to the plan were favorable to the MVP.
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One of the central characteristics of the MVP is its proposal to start the development of the plan.
from the desires, aspirations, and hope for change of the involved population, breaking
with the orthodox culture of starting the preparation of plans, programs and projects by
studies and research on the objective reality of the population involved. On the other hand, the MVP is
a method whose flexibility addresses economic, social, cultural situations and
very varied policies and adapt without restriction to those situations in which people and the
families experience situations of poverty, low levels of education, and discomfort
before public institutions does not compromise its fundamental principles.

The MVP was designed to be continuously developed in the settlements of

land reform or in other situations where social collectives are interacting in a way
organic or synergistic. The development of a plan is just the motivational and technical beginning for
to implement a continuous planning process.

Moreover, the MVP can be understood and applied by people with the most basic
education, even taking into account that one of the principles of the MVP is to exercise it
maximum possible quantification.

2. The progressive validation

As progressive validation is understood as the process of continued legitimization and

progressive of macro-decisions (taken at the level of social collectives) and in interaction
constant with the micro-decisions (at the level of each singular family) made throughout the
process of developing a plan, program, or project.

Validation refers to the progressive legitimization of the decisions that occur among the
various phases of a decision-making process involving people, families, social groups, and others
social collectives for the formulation of a plan, program or action project that will interfere
about their lives.

The implicit thesis here is that the final decision, considering the political characteristics-
dominant ideologies in Brazilian society and in the contemporary context will always be that of
singular family (or at the limit of the person that constitutes it), even if between it and the collective
social that is considered integrated or has relationships of belonging, identity or of
association by interest, there are mediations through groups, nuclei or associations of
representation. The decision made at the collective levels will always have an indicative character in
relationship to the expected behavior of the family and the individuals that constitute it. The decisions
ends of the plan, expressed in the desired macro scenarios for the short and medium term (level of
social collective object of the plan) and in a matrix of so many desired short-term micro scenarios
In the medium term, how many single families were involved in this commitment?
social to develop the plan, are the product of this tension between the general (social collective) and the singular
(family).

The always present hypothesis in the progressivity of validation is that the representation of
interests, although they may be legitimate, need to be reaffirmed at every step of everyday life, in
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especially in those societies or in particular situations marked by social exclusion, by

poverty and by authoritarianism.

Progressive validation within the scope of a plan formulation method has the purpose of
assuming that people, families, and groups know what they want. Therefore, their scenarios
desired futures are already mapped out, whether conceived with greater or lesser precision, be it
they are based on explanations of the magical, religious, common-sense world or in
in those of a technical-scientific nature. If these scenarios desired by social collectives and
through families, starting from their 'passions' (desires, aspirations, and utopias), they may be
whether concretized or not is a question that will be asked 'a posteriori' to its externalization,
in the various steps suggested by the MVP.

The anticipation of the future, essence of any plan, should not dispense with the
wishes, aspirations, and dreams of individuals and families, of groups or social collectives. And, more
still, from the utopia that these people have the courage to build and to express before their
pairs.

These desired scenarios of the settlers, even if conceived from an eclectic fusion
between their perceptions of the concrete real that they experience and the varied and contradictory range of
Wishes and aspirations are the starting point of the MVP.

The 'technical-scientific' prospecting of the macroeconomic, social, or environmental future

It can be carried out with greater or lesser accuracy depending on the data set.
available historical data, the theoretical and applied capacity for interpreting trends and
a given context, of the projection methods and the technical-scientific hypotheses adopted.
However, at the level of the individual, of singular families and of the basic social group (the group where
face-to-face relationships prevail), this prospecting has a very low degree of certainty. And,
the greater the uncertainty in predicting people's behavior, the closer one is to
wish, aspiration, and dreams. Who knows about hope and utopia.

This subjective dimension is essential for developing plans in a participatory manner.

with populations, whether more or less poor, and that have in oral tradition the vehicle
more complete expression of your opinions.

It will not be up to the technician to decide on the relevance of the scenarios chosen by the
subjects of the plan. It is up to him to problematize these scenarios in the light of other knowledge,
whether they relate to another perception of the reality of the plan or to their own
of a technical-scientific nature, so that the subjects of the plan can gradually go
perceiving new dimensions of reality, other ways to study the concrete real in
that insert or better relate desires and aspirations with material means for
make them concrete.

3. The construction of the problem for the plan

In the preparation of a plan, program, or project, the construction of the problem that will be
the object of knowledge and, supposedly, of planned intervention is one of the most
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sensitive considering that the expectation with the plan is to overcome problems.

Due to strong possibly positivist influence, the construction of the problem always
preceded the preparation and alternatives for solutions to overcome them. This statement is
apparently obvious if capitalist economic rationality prevailed and did not
it introduced subjective elements into this discourse. However, in the context of the peasantry and
from small family farming to the construction of the problem based on economic rationality
the hegemonic capitalist is, if not entirely inadequate, at least insufficient. One could
to assert that the peasant and the small family farmer fit into another paradigm
explanatory of your reality, even when immersed in the capitalist world.

As this is not the central theme of this document, it will be used as a reference for
these aspects related to the peasant reality the document Community of
Resilience and Overcoming (Carvalho, 2002)1.

Considering that the dominant ideology tends to be the ideology of the class
dominant is likely that the set of populations in a subordinate situation
economic and social reproduces, with the eclecticism that constitutes popular knowledge, the ideas and
dominant ideas. The reproduction at the general level of society of the worldview
the dominant is made in a diffuse manner and permeated with new knowledge, habits, myths, beliefs and
truths endorsed by empirical popular practice. It is produced in this way, at the level of
majority of the population, common sense.

In this perspective, everything leads to believe that most of the settled rural workers
assumes, without the necessary critical consciousness due to its class insertion, the values
dominant like individualism, competition, consumerism and, in what refers to
agricultural and extractive production, the models of intensive capital production and technology
of monoculture.

As counter-hegemonic ideas and propositions do not always manage to reach

substantial part of the rural workers, and the means to implement them are blocked by the
public policies that reproduce the interests of the dominant large capital, the peasants and the
small family farmers are left without access to the knowledge that would be available to them
favorable and, likely, organic to their actual conditions of material resources and
financial, investment capacity, and management of your business.

The contemporary history of social exclusion in the countryside has shown that the
assumptions for the expanded accumulation of capital in the field based on the agricultural model
for the large rural company does not align with the possibilities and resources available of the
units of peasant production and small family farmers. On the contrary, the
the adoption of this dominant model by peasants and family farmers has
increased social exclusion in the countryside.

1
Carvalho, Horacio Martins (2002). Community of Resistance and Overcoming. Curitiba, February, 48 p.
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It is common for the preparation of a development or recovery plan

there is a storm of ideas in the initial meetings of the social collective in which
numerous complaints, weaknesses, and what are considered problems of the settlement are listed.
Almost always, this listing of problems has a contextual relevance due to the
difficulties that settled rural workers face in producing and marketing
your products.

However, the studies that gather under the name of diagnosis do not always provide
it accounts for the structural and conjunctural causes that generate these difficulties. Even when
they reach this level of causal explanation and seek solutions to overcome the main causes
some problems that were considered priority are hindered by the lack of material resources,
personal and financial to overcome them. And, even more, they do not always coincide with desires and
aspirations that families have about their "what-to-do".

Most of the time, the development plans for settlements or similar ones
they become innocuous due to the impossibility of addressing the contradiction between the demand
high financing at low costs and the non-existence of the supply of this money, whether
by government policy or through other sources of credit. Furthermore, when there are resources
available such as subsidized rural credit, generally always in a volume lower than the minimum
desired and offered outside the appropriate agricultural application periods, the dominant ideology
that moves public bureaucracy directs, through capitalist economic rationality and the
of the interests of large economic groups, the allocation of these resources for the adoption of
dominant production and technological model type capital-intensive and monoculture
agro-exporter.

The MVP considers that the construction of the problem of a settlement under the
economic, social, cultural or administrative dimensions should endure throughout the entire
development of the plan in a continuous and educational process of proposing and reviewing the
proposal where it is possible to create political-social and educational conditions of
development of the critical consciousness of the subjects of the plan.

The thesis defended here is not to start from what is traditionally considered as
issues, in the sense of a listing of items that express what is lacking or what
it didn't work. On the contrary, the construction of the issue in this approach starts from what the
subjects of the plan wish to carry out, regardless of the reading they make of their
realities and their effective possibilities. Therefore, in this method the issue is
represented by the desired short and medium-term scenarios built by the population
involved from their desires, aspirations, and hopes.

The problematization of this issue (questioning the feasibility of the

desired scenarios), through the loving confrontation between popular and scholarly knowledge, that
will allow to build the problem object of the plan: to adjust and enable the desired scenarios
given the available and potential means of its realization.

This process of constructing the problem follows these steps, all of them
recurring among themselves: problematics, problematization, and problem. From this perspective, some
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assumptions are adopted, as follows:

Issue: the synchronization of the desires and aspirations listed by the subjects of the plan and
technically articulated in desired short and medium-term scenarios without suffering the
critical reflection on the conception of the world in presence and the feasibility of realization.

Considering that the dominant ideas are reproduced by the subaltern classes,
even without being aware of this hegemony, everything suggests that the
wishes and aspirations listed by workers part of references established by
inclusive society under the intellectual and moral direction of the dominant classes. These
wishes and aspirations arise from the relationship between the dominant general values adopted
by rural workers and their real situation. Therefore, this issue is raised.
indeed by the dominant ideas that are not always pertinent to the objective conditions
and subjective aspects of the reproduction of the livelihoods and work of the peasants and
farmers.

Problemization: process where the previously defined problem is submitted or

the desired scenarios to the assumptions of a theory or of various formulated hypotheses
from other worldviews that are not hegemonic.

The problematization operates a dialectical process of negation and overcoming of

the issue formulated in an empirical and subjective manner.

Problem: the viability of the scenario desired by settled rural workers who
I constituted it as the object of study or intervention constructed during the problematization.
of the problem.

In chapter 5. Phases of the progressive validation method, it will be possible to understand that the
the construction of the problem does not occur as a first phase of work for the elaboration of the
flat, as usually occurs in traditional methods where linearity is checked
expressed through the phases of problem construction, presentation of alternative solutions,
establishment of goals and means of execution and resource allocation for achieving the
goals.

In the MVP, the construction of the problem occurs through successive approximations until the final phase of the
elaboration of the plan considering that the process of progressive validation, therefore that of
constant doubt, it continues. The adopted hypothesis is that the awareness of difficulties or
two obstacles to the fulfillment of desires and aspirations, these expressed in the desired scenario
(goals to be achieved within a given timeframe), will only be effectively perceived
by the people subject to the plan based on the actual demand for knowledge that will be
determined by the confrontation between desired goals and the means to achieve them.

This awareness of the gap between the desired and the possible, in light of the resources
available or achievable and the political limitations defined by the current balance of power,
requires a delicate construction rich in subjective nuances of making various decisions
at the level of the social collective as well as that of individual families. The flowchart below summarizes
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this process of constructing the problem.

The blossoming of critical consciousness about the reality experienced by the subjects of the plan,
the settled rural workers require a very complex participation process
so that its development provides the cultural and personal times necessary for the
people and social collectives feel safe and willing, objectively and subjectively, to
we will make public decisions about the future of their lives.

One can assume that the MVP seeks a handcrafted construction of personal discoveries and
groups about what-to-do. This discovery would occur at both the level of families and individuals.
like in the social collectives. A broad, diverse, and contradictory process of
social participation is encouraged.

Some criteria must be respected regarding social participation:

Social participation is a process that needs to be continuously understood;

In the participatory development of a settlement plan, where different dimensions of
the lives of rural workers are treated, it is necessary to understand that the notion of
participation takes on a polysemous character: people in the everyday lives
they experience different social plans (affective, religious, economic, political, etc.) with degrees
various intensities depending on the time and place. Therefore, people are not
necessarily available, objectively and subjectively, for the participation of anyone
subject at any time or place. This does not mean they do not wish to participate.
"never again" of such or such process, but they prefer to deal with other challenges first.
or demands. So, it becomes necessary to ensure waiting times for families
we can arrange availability to participate in the development of the plan;
The mythical language of participation is expressed in the assertion that everyone wants to participate.
for the resolution of your problems, it ignores these prerogatives of the subject of
participation and makes it an object that must participate whenever summoned. This culture
the domestication denies consensual participation, making it a type of participation
embarrassed2;
Social participation is a social practice full of contradictions, which possibly
will be perceived and overcome in the very practice of people's participation as subjects
of your desires, aspirations, and utopias. These contradictions, however, do not always have to
can be overcome. Only the practice of participation can establish the levels of consensus
that will be obtained. The presence of dissent is a prerogative of consensual participation, in
a sense of not having been influenced by constraints.

Because it is assumed that these criteria, among many others, must be respected and that the
participation is a social process of continued achievement of a person's presence as
subject before another person and/or social collective who also behave as subjects

2
Carvalho, Horacio Martins (1994). Participation and consensual organization as one of the dimensions of
citizenship. Curitiba/Brasília, Arid Project, policies for the development of the semi-arid northeast. Group of
Integration work with society, theme Participation and citizenship, IICA/PNUD.
 10

to find common ways of living together, it considers participation as

a process to be built in each circumstance. Therefore, it is known that it is possible
unleash a participation process, but from there the construction times of the
participation in each case and circumstance will be specific, without forecasts.

4. Descending and ascending planning3

The Progressive Validation Method (MVP) was conceived from the articulation of
two distinct planning procedures or, more strictly, the preparation of the plan:
the descending and ascending procedures.

The descending and ascending expressions4are not related either to the

participation of the population or of the immediate stakeholders nor with the processes of greater or
less decentralization of decisions. These two dimensions of planning (participation of
population and decentralization of decisions) may occur with greater or lesser incidence
depending on the political regime or the nature of the type of participation of people at the level of
an institution, whether public or private, or of a social collective. What defines this in
the approach as to whether a procedure is descending or ascending is the way it occurs
development plan, whether it is called a development plan, goal plan, plan
of guidelines, action plan or any other designation that qualifies it.

The development of a plan through the top-down planning procedure starts from
definition of macroeconomic and/or macrosocial indicators such as gross domestic product
credit volume for investments
basic, investments in science and technology, etc. that can explain, according to a
analytical conception given, a reality that is taken as an object of study and intervention.

Based on the projection of these indicators for a future time horizon or horizon
The plan (5, 10, 15, or 20 years, for example) establishes future scenarios for a situation.
expected or desired. From this desired future scenario, by decomposition, they establish
sector indicators (thematic cut) and/or regional (geographical or territorial cut)
economic and social for these same horizons of the plan. And so on,
decompositions (and subsequently by aggregation for coherence testing) it will be possible to achieve
most elementary levels of demand or production, such as, at the limit, the level of demand
of inputs of an industrial sector, whether workforce of an industrial branch, of
agribusiness, of an agricultural production unit or a family.

The downward planning is deductive, in the sense that it goes from the general to the

3
This chapter corresponds to the text by Carvalho, Horacio Martins (2002). Notes on planning
ascendant for agrarian reform settlements. Curitiba, July 29, mimeo 4 p., prepared for use
during the Evaluation Seminar of Technical Assistance in Agrarian Reform Settlements in the State of
Rio Grande do Sul promoted by COCEARGS/MST from August 2 to 4, 2002, in Canguçu, RS.
4
Text adjusted from chapter III Procedures in project planning Introduction to the Theory of
Planning by Horacio Martins de Carvalho, São Paulo, Brasiliense, 1976.
 11

particular.

The preparation of the plan by the ascending procedure for the settlements of
land reform, the object taken as an example in this document, presupposes six phases of
work:

Phase 1. Definition, at the central level of the settlement, of the generating themes, of the parameters
to measure them, from a horizon of the plan (deadline) and a goal5for each theme (or
subtopic) chosen generator. These elements will constitute the preliminary plan of goals
indicators for settlement6;

Phase 2. Development of a preliminary goals program at the family core level.

starting from the propositions (generating themes, parameters to measure them, and the goals
established) constants of the preliminary plan of indicative goals for the settlement.
This goals program is the first step in the adjustment process, starting from the families.
gathered in the family nucleus, of the preliminary goals plan of the settlement;

Phase 3. Development of a goals project at the level of each family based on

proposals included in the preliminary indicative goals program for the core of
families. The generating themes must be maintained. However, not all families
they will need to commit, based on their objective and subjective limitations, to
all generating themes allowing the choice of one, two, or all generating themes
selected at the settlement level. It may even exceed the number of the themes.
generators, on their own initiative. What is fundamental at this stage is the establishment of
goals by the generating theme to be assumed by the family. This goal will be considered as the
possible to be effectively implemented by the individualized family. This project of
The goals of each family are the fundamental and decisive step in the adjustment process.
capacity for change of each family, of the preliminary goals program of the nucleus of
families;

Phase 4. Survey of project goals by family. Review and adjustment of the program.
preliminary goals by family nucleus based on the census of the projects of
goals (by generating theme) by family. The integration (summation or weighting) of the goals
(by generating theme) of all the families that constitute a certain family nucleus
will establish, for the horizon of the plan, the goals of the action program of the core of
family. At this stage, the development of the family core goals program will be achieved.

5
As an example, one might assume that in a certain settlement, one of the generating themes is defined as a
grain production through an ecological or organic technological matrix. As a parameter, it is established that
planted area and zero percentage of use of agrochemicals (fertilizers and pesticides) of industrial base.
The planning horizon is defined as a period of 2 years. The goal of this generating theme would be to achieve, during this period (2
years), 70% of the area planted in grains through this technological matrix.
6
It is necessary to have internal coherence between the established goals such as the average area planted per family, the
combination of crops and livestock in an agroecological technological matrix, expected forms of cooperation in
production of inputs, in the commercialization of products, etc.
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(adjustment of the preliminary goals program based on the goal projects of each family).
In the same way, the integration of the various goal programs of family groups.
the settlement will establish the adjustment of the goals set in the preliminary goals plan of
settlement. After the adjustments, the settlement's target plan will have been reached by
ascending procedure.

Phase 5. Administrative organization for the implementation of the goals plan

settlement. The coordination of the settlement or another established decision-making body
should prepare a double-entry table (a matrix) that includes, on the axis
horizontal the generating themes and their decompositions into parameters and on the vertical axis the
listing of individualized families, leaving a line for the goals of the clusters
of families. In the house or blank reticulum, this product of the crossing between the column that
refers to a parameter of the generating theme and the line for each family of the settlement, will be
the goal set by family and by generating theme for the horizon of the plan.
same procedure for the line per core. This table will allow a summary view of
Settlement goals plan. This fifth phase should include the assembly of a
simplified monitoring system (tracking and control) of the goals plan
of the settlement.

The reference to the targets plan means that emphasis is being placed on the goal to be achieved.
at the end of the established deadline for the plan (and program by family nucleus and project by
family). This means, from a didactic point of view, that the product-input relationship (or goal and
resources to reach it) has not yet been granted. This option should be part of the
decisions of the coordinating instance of the settlement in question. If there is a decision to include
in the goals plan, the product-input relationship (and not vice versa, as it is a plan for
A new round of the first five previous phases will be necessary.

The inclusion of resource demands for the plan can be effective from two
basic hypotheses:

First hypothesis: when considering the set of preliminary indicative goals (phase 1,
previously) it is already calculated for each generating theme, and within it for each parameter, the
likely demand for physical, human, and financial inputs that are necessary and indispensable
so that each goal is achieved within the established deadline. In this same procedure,
will establish a schedule for the implementation of activities for each generating theme in
function of the agricultural calendar, release of credits, etc. Thus, the preliminary plan for
indicative targets will be increased by the estimated demand for resources and their supply
likely
Second hypothesis: the entire cycle of the plan drafting procedure is completed.
goals through the ascending procedure (the five phases previously discussed). Only
after the goals plan has been established, a new cycle similar to the previous one would begin
the five previous phases to establish the product (goal) and the inputs
required.

There is no doubt that the second hypothesis incorporates certain empiricism (procedure of
trial and error) in the preparation of the settlement's goal plan, as it is applied
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second cycle made up of five phases the verification of the availability or not of resources
may demand a review of the goals, etc. On the other hand, this second hypothesis is more educational,
because the application of a second round or application of the five-phase cycle provides greater
time for maturation and gestation of the basic idea of creating a plan of goals for the
settlement and, more than anything, a plan that will mean significant changes if
the three changes proposed in the text Community of Resistance and be adopted
Overcoming7change in the consumption matrix, in the production matrix, and in the cultural matrix.

The development of the goals plan by the first hypothesis is more consistent from the point of
technical view. However, it is more complex due to the high number of aspects that it will have to
to address simultaneously. Not always the people and families of landless rural workers
involved are prepared to handle decisions that require visions or approaches in
complex network of interrelationships.

It may be possible to consider that neither of the two previous hypotheses is considered, but
yes, a third one in the case where the change in the technological matrix is for production
ecological where the product-input relationship does not necessarily go through dependence on
input market, but by the capacity of each family to produce their own inputs.
In this case, one might foresee a third hypothesis of elaboration, following the same cycle.
the 5 phases previously described, of a resource mobilization plan based on the plan
of established goals.

The resource mobilization plan, as a supplementary document8the goal plan is

the most appropriate procedure for the realization of the suggestions contained in the text
Community of Resistance and Overcoming or similar propositions. This is due to the fact that
that the suggestions contained in this text lead towards the construction of autonomies of
production, in the face of the supply market, within the scope of family agriculture, whether it is
constituted from agrarian reform settlements or another historical means of access to
land. And, from this perspective, the mobilization of resources will come from family initiatives very
differentiated from one another with few prospects for standardization of inputs and,
indirectly, from behaviors.

A resource mobilization plan should focus on three integrated aspects.

between each other:

Technical assistance procedures;

Training of rural producers;
Forms of cooperation among rural producers.

The necessary and indispensable changes, on the part of small family farmers,
for resistance to social exclusion relies on technical and political support that enables not

7
Carvalho, Horacio Martins (2002). Community of Resistance and Overcoming. Curitiba, February, mimeo 48 p.
8
The term 'plan' is being used to refer to a document that technically encompasses decisions.
for desirable actions in a given or established future, provided that the expected conditions are maintained, whether they are (decisions)
about goals or about the availability and use of resources (means).
 14

just differentiated ways of producing as distinct ways of transforming the world,

be it the production or the socio-political one. In this sense, technical assistance would need to be
simultaneously able to provide elements of practical-theoretical technical-scientific training
for ecological production as well as for the critical construction of family agriculture in society
capitalist in the sense of overcoming this mode of production. Therefore, it should be a
technical assistance with content and method of social class.

At the same time, it would be desirable to have technical assistance committed to the
overcoming the social exclusion of family farming and the economic and social model
dominant, a resource mobilization plan should foresee solid technical training
of the producers. This training is essential in light of the changes that are expected.
if the suggestions from the text Community of Resistance and Overcoming are adopted.

When considering that one of the dimensions of changes is cultural (change in the matrix
cultural) it will be timely for new forms of cooperation among producers to be debated and
implanted. The different alternatives for mutual aid, from solidarity among relatives and
neighbors even more complex forms of cooperation, such as production actions of
Processing of semi-collective and collective products and by-products should be included.

A goals plan and a resource mobilization plan, both integrated with each other, is a
plausible guidance for the initiation of plan preparation by the procedure.
rising in agrarian reform settlements.

5. Phases of the Progressive Validation Method - MVP

The MVP was conceived from the bottom-up planning procedure.

Various adjustments were made in the five phases previously described of

ascending procedure to allow the participation process to be able to
consider various decision-making processes (progressivity) at the different levels of
settlement is a new approach to the construction of the problem. These levels were established.
with flexibility in order to be able to adapt to different concrete situations. Established-
there are four decision-making levels as reference: a macro level (Settlement Coordination),
a micro level (the individual family or the individual in case the beneficiary is single) and two
meso levels, thus supposed: meso 1, the base core where there is, and meso 2, group of
base nuclei (average of 25 families), the association, the department by production line
etc.

For the new approach to problem construction, some adaptations were adopted.
elements of the descending procedure. For example, instead of establishing indicators
macroeconomic and social fields suggested the definition of thematic areas considered by
subjects of the plan as structuring elements of the settlement and for each of these thematic fields
the definition of indicators. It does not proceed next, as in top-down planning, to
decomposition of these macro indicators into sectoral and/or regional indicators, but rather for
the calculation of indicators by thematic field at the level of the individual family. From this point on
 15

the interaction with the ascending procedure already begins, as will be explained ahead
specified.

Another distinct aspect of traditional planning procedures is the construction

of desired scenarios by thematic field established before any type of diagnosis
of the reality object of the plan. This proposal, already commented on earlier in item 2. A
progressive validation aims to release the desires, aspirations, and utopias of individuals, groups or
broader social collectives. This stance or approach contributes in a way
decisive for people to start debating the development of the plan based on thinking about
the future and not by the classic and conservative orthodoxy of starting any reflection of
planning by ruminating on the past in search of causes and effects that contribute to your
current living and working conditions.

Among the poorest populations, the past is "something to be forgotten", except for
the great loves. Their lives are filled with the immediate not because they stop dreaming,
but because they have stopped believing in promises or support from the governments, or better,
solutions that come from the outside in. So, they experience the immediate that is filled with
dreams, fantasies, aspirations synthesized in the expression 'maybe this time it will work out.'
This wealth and detachment from the world make them lighter people, who
they find in the microcosm of their existences abundant reasons to smile and to be
happy, even though aware of their limitations. But they do not make them a torment: they know of the
restrictions, poverty, exploitation, injustice among so many other perceptions. They know,
also, that tomorrow may be better.

This hope is the starting point of any relationship that is desired to be participative.
with the poorest populations. It should be with any fraction or part of the population. But,
in general, the technicians and intellectuals, the broad fractions of the middle classes, the wage earners with
but relative stability in their jobs, among other things, experience their daily lives.
haunted by the ghosts of the past. And, because they are like this, in general, it is assumed
authoritatively that "all" people behave or live like this.

The development of the plan by the Progressive Validation Method (PVM) begins
talking about the hope, desires, and aspirations of people, groups, and others
social collectives, manifestations that translate technically into desired scenarios
for thematic fields (real dimensions of their lives) that they consider the most relevant
here and now.

These desired scenarios will stimulate questioning and construction of

problem of developing the plan. During the reflection on the necessary means and
possible to realize the desired scenarios is that the objective demands will emerge,
now from the real needs of people prompted to reflection, to seek more
technical-scientific information about your realities (different social plans that
they experience life). What was once called a diagnosis and should precede the
decision making is now, within the scope of the MVP, developed from the questions about the
viability of desired scenario.
 16

The phases that characterize the MVP can be grouped into movements or steps.
forward presented between the macro level (social collective subject of the plan) and the micro level
(singular family subject of the plan), respecting the meso level (mediation) when applicable
between the social collective and the singular family.

Nothing prevents it and it is even advisable that the technicians or the advisory team of
the preparation of the plan is already equipped with secondary data, maps, previous studies
elaborated on the settlement etc. so that you can participate informed about the dynamics of the
settlement. It is recommended that even before the start of formal meetings with the
Coordination of the Settlement the advisors have already walked through the settlement, or the
most of it, and spoke with some families to take ownership of the
characteristics of the territory, the apparent economic scenario, and the internal political and social climate.

The progressive validation will be presented here in five approaches derived from
comings and goings between the macro and micro levels. These approaches may occur as many
when necessary in such a way that the validation of the decisions occurs in a manner
participatory and loving.

Step 1. Macro level (1st approximation)

definition of the thematic scope of the plan: establishment of the list of fields
explanatory and structuring themes of the settlement according to the subjects of the plan;

definition of indicators by thematic field, considered as descriptors

structural aspects of the settlement;

forwarding of the proposal for thematic fields and indicators, defined

provisionally at the macro level, to the meso level 1 (basic nuclei).

Purposes of Step 1.

The main thing is the delimitation of the object of the plan from the critical debate among the
members of the Settlement Coordination and the external advisors about the wishes and
aspirations for improvement of the living and working conditions of the subjects of the plan.

In conventional procedures, a prior listing of what should be used is employed.

to study and about what should be decided, that is, the thematic fields that should compose
a plan. This orthodoxy tends, in general, to develop plans considering the most diverse
aspects of a settlement (or another object of the plan), assuming that this supposed vision
to contribute to its accomplishment.

The assumption adopted here is that the object of the plan should be close to that one.
set of thematic fields over which the subjects of the plan have effective control of their
realization and changes that they deem appropriate. The others should only be mentioned as
projects to be developed. For example, if the settlers have already received all the credits
related to the implementation and consolidation of the settlement and still do not have an energy network
 17

Electric, it will be of no use to detail the goals etc. related to this in the plan.
thematic field. This is because the effective possibility of obtaining financial resources for the
The implementation of the electrical energy network will depend on specific social struggles, beyond control.
current of the subjects of the plan. These struggles will depend on the correlation of forces at a given
political moment.

The second relevant assumption is the definition of indicators by thematic field.

the general thesis of the MVP is that the plan should be quantified, which means the establishment of
goals and, evidently, with established deadlines. For this to be implemented is
essential for defining indicators for which magnitudes will be established. These
indicators must be assumed by the subjects of the plan.

Step 2. Meso level 1 (1st approximation)

critical analysis of the proposed thematic fields and descriptor indicators of

settlements elaborated at the macro level 1 (Coordination of Settlements and
external consultancy) and proposal of amendments;

Assessment of the relevance of adopting these thematic fields and indicators at the level of
family production unit.

Assumptions of Step 2.

The recommendation is that the first critical debate close to the base (family level
it occurs in groups of families (5 to 10 neighboring families) as the basic nuclei of
settlement. The critical analysis of thematic fields and macro-level indicators by
families gathered in groups facilitates the exchange of opinions and the creation of inter-family trust and
intergroup in relation to the practices of preparing the plan. The product of the activities in this
Step 2 is the set of critiques and suggestions about the relevance of the thematic fields and
indicators as descriptors of the settlement and capable of being adopted at the level of
family production unit.

As the desired and current scenarios (both of the settlement and of each unit of
family production) to be built in the following steps are the product of the interaction between the
thematic fields, indicators, and relevant goals, both to account for the reality of
settlement as that of the family production unit, it is necessary to have compatibility
between the macro and micro levels.

Step 2, carried out at meso level 1, is the first moment of validation of the decisions.
in the case of thematic fields and types of indicators.

Step 3. Macro level (2nd approach)

review of the thematic fields and the descriptor indicators established by

Step 1 from the propositions of the core bases at the meso level 1;
 18

establishment of short and medium-term goals (horizon of 1 year and 3 years)

for each indicator by selected thematic field;

assembly of the desired macro scenarios (aggregated data for the settlement):
the thematic field, indicator, and targets for the two defined horizons;

forwarding the desired macro scenarios for critical analysis at the micro level
(singular family).

Assumptions of Step 3.

Since the plan must be fully quantified, the task of setting goals by field
thematic and for each indicator this Step will be given. These goals must be established for
two horizons, the short-term one for 1 year and the short-term one for three years.

The greater or lesser realism of these goals, while expressing desires and aspirations
the subjects of the plan is not yet a relevant factor, even if one assumes that the experience of
life of rural workers and the awareness of their financial limitations and resources
available materials and organizational resources already keep them quite close to viable.
Meanwhile, this dimension (greater or lesser feasibility of achieving the goals is not
relevant at this stage) will be addressed with greater rigor starting from Step 6 (problematisation)
when studying the means to achieve these goals.

Step 3 must provide ample opportunity for the plan's subjects to

debate your desires and aspirations regarding the future. This debate, followed by reflection on
based on the considerations of the advisors, it should be as open as possible, without restrictions on
any order.

Step 4. Micro level (1st approximation)

critical analysis of the desired macro scenarios assembled by the macro level;

definition of family goals for the thematic fields and descriptor indicators
of the settlements consistent with the desired scenarios, that is, definition of the scenarios
desired micro for the short and medium term (a micro scenario for each family)
singular);

elaboration of the current scenario of the family production unit according to the fields
thematic and indicators defined for the desired macro and micro scenario;

Assumptions of Step 4.

In this step 4, individual families will have the second contact with the process of
development of the plan (the first took place in Step 2, at the family group level), only that
now in an individualized manner.
 19

The critical analysis of the desired macro scenario will take place in the singular family, among its
members. What is desired to be achieved is, in addition to awareness of the totality of the proposals
(desired scenarios) for the settlement, giving them the opportunity to think about the entirety of
settlement and to relate it to that of your singular production unit, it is the
establishment of short-term and medium-term goals that each family wishes to achieve in their
production unit. The central points in this step are the quantification, the prospecting of
future (wishes and aspirations) and the relationship between micro and macro.

The other activity is the description of the current scenario, that is, based on those fields
The established themes and indicators describe the current (or recent) situation in your unit.
production. How the exercise began with the establishment of short and medium-term goals.
Deadline and now the current scenario is being built, it will naturally emerge, whether at the level of the subconscious.
whether in the conscious mind, the effort that will be necessary to move from the current scenario to that of
short term. It is this growing awareness of the effort needed to change reality that
will provide learning conditions for studying the means to achieve it.

Step 5. Macro level (3rd approximation)

census of the matrices of the current micro scenario developed by families

singulars;

description of the current scenario of the settlement based on the aggregated indicators by
thematic field;

establishment of goals by thematic field for the desired macro scenarios

starting from the goals defined in the desired scenarios micro by individual family;

construction of the settlement issue: critical relationship between desired scenario

macro and the current macro scenario in light of the available and potential resources.

Assumptions of Step 5.

The central assumption of this step is the empirical awareness of difference.

between the desired scenario and the current scenario. This concrete situation created by the steps
previous ones will highlight the 'magnitude' of the effort to be made by the subjects of the plan so that
this plan (still at the level of the desired macro and micro scenarios) can be realized.
This question will raise another: will it be possible to carry it out? At that moment, one begins to
problematize the issues of the settlement.

Step 6. Macro level (problematisation)

study of alternatives for means (materials, financial and organizational) to

transition from the current macro scenario to the desired macro scenario;

identification of the necessary information to support the alternatives of

means (request for information on soils, production costs, technologies,
 20

installations, types of varieties of creations, etc.

study of alternatives for aligning the goals of the desired scenario

macro and means available to achieve them (problematization).

adjustment of goals and indicators by thematic field of the desired macro scenarios
short and medium-term and referral for analysis at the meso level.

Assumptions of Step 6.

To answer the question 'will it be possible to achieve the desired scenario?' it becomes
It is essential to respond to how to do it? This beginning of the problematization will require presence
critical and active of the technicians and the testimony of producers from other places and/or
settlements to present not only new worldviews (models of production and
technological) as narrating cases similar to those covered in the thematic fields that
we help the subjects of the plan to rethink the paths they suppose to be the most
adequate.

In this step, various technical information is required, such as those that allow
the calculation of production costs, access to information about soil suitability, to new
production models, to the available technologies, to forms of cooperation in production and in
beneficiation, rethinking the relationship between production for self-consumption and for the market
etc.

This process of problematization for establishing the means to achieve the

desired macro scenarios tend to readjust the expectations derived from desires and aspirations
that resulted in the goals to be achieved.

Step 7. Meso level 2 and 1 (if meso 2 exists, it would operate as a specialist)

critical analysis of the desired macro scenarios for the short and medium term and of the means
suggested to reach them;

proposal for changes in the means to achieve the goals of the desired scenarios
short and medium term macro and forwarding to the macro level.

Assumptions of Step 7.

At the meso level 2 (associations, interest groups, specialized departments, etc.),

when the settlement has these instances of organization, internal assistance will be sought
to the settlement to readjust the goals to the possibilities of the means under control of
subjects of the plan.

If a given settlement does not have these forms of cooperation or they

they were considered of lesser relevance this Step will occur at the meso level 1, similar
to Step 2.
 21

The central assumption is the adjustment of expectations regarding the goals based on the
restrictions of the available means. This step is another moment of validation.

Step 8. Macro level (4th approximation)

evaluation of the meso level 2 propositions and review of the desired macro scenarios
and the means to achieve them;
forwarding of the desired scenario macros and the available means for
reach them to the micro level.

Assumption of Step 8.

Adjustment of expectations for the desired macro scenarios.

Step 9. Micro level (2nd approximation)

critical analysis of the desired macro scenarios and the means to achieve them;

adjustment or maintenance of the goals and means of the desired micro scenario;

referral to the macro level.

Assumption of Step 9.

Adjustment of expectations in the desired scenarios at the level of each production unit
familiar. Another moment of validation.

Step 10. Macro level (5th approximation)

consolidation of the desired macro scenarios for the short and medium term;

final writing of the plan encompassing the list of necessary technical projects
to meet the demands of the desired macro scenarios in the short and medium term.

Assumptions of Step 10.

Desired macro and micro scenarios developed.

In Step 4. Micro level (1st approximation), in the suggestion "elaboration of the current scenario"
micro or recent family production unit according to thematic fields and indicators
In the desired macro and micro scenario, various techniques can be adopted, depending on the
availability of work time and knowledge of the advisory for this. For example,
In this description of the current scenario at the production unit level, one could adopt the technique
of identification and description of agricultural systems or that of the budgets. Another one
The alternative is to calculate the production costs for each production line, the calculation of
 22

expenses with imports (in relation to the production unit) of chemical inputs
industrialized products and agrochemicals etc; determine the level of indebtedness of each family etc.

In Step 6. Macro level (problematic), in the suggestion "study of the alternatives of

means (material, financial, and organizational) to move from the current macro scenario to the
"desired macro scenario" is also possible by adopting different construction techniques.
solutions alternatives to achieve a desired goal. From cost-benefit analyses to
the consideration of production and technological matrices inspired by agroecology.

Finally, each step can be mediated or grounded by numerous techniques of

research, decision making, etc. The subjects of the plan will be those who will define, with the
support from technical advisory, up to where it will be possible to go in the use of more elaborate techniques of
planning.

6. Basic elements of a settlement plan

There are three overall results that are expected to be achieved with the implementation of the MVP:

settlement plan developed, with quantified decisions, and with intense

group participation and of individual families;

dynamization of internal participation processes and enhancement of organicity

of the settlement;

introduction of the planning process in the daily life of families and the
settlement as a whole.

The last two results are of a procedural nature and a consequence of the process of
progressive validation and the educational dynamics it encompasses. The plan is a
a document that is expected to remain as a record of decisions, but that essentially what
the commitment was sought to pursue the achievement of the goals by all those (families,
groups and the entire social collective) that found themselves as subjects of the plan.

The plan, as a document, is the formalization of a public commitment between the

rural workers settled in the settlement subject to the plan. As it has an indicative character
and this commitment will be fulfilled with greater or lesser intensity
depending on the legitimacy of the process of its elaboration.

The content of a plan developed by the Progressive Validation Method -

MVP focuses on the desired macro scenarios, the micro ones, and the current corresponding ones.
as well as the means to achieve the goals of the desired macro scenarios.

It is very important that the drafting of the plan regarding the scenarios and means is faithful to
what was decided during its preparation, including incorporating local expressions and
regionalisms of the subjects of the plan. As the plan represents a commitment, it is necessary that
it corresponds to what was validated in Steps 9 and 10.
 23

Other records may be included in the plan, such as the historical rescue of
settlement from the point of view not of public bureaucracy or advisors, but of the subjects
of the plan, the current organization of the settlement, and the major challenges they set out to face.
Other dimensions such as those related to social and productive infrastructure, many
times out of the control of the subjects of the plan and due to the lack of access to the means to carry them out,
they may be presented only as indications of projects that will be the subjects of action
particular political and social.

A suggestion about the minimum components of a plan would be as follows, here

presented by way of illustration:

historical contextualization of the settlement in light of the subjects of the plan

economic, social, cultural, and political contextualization of the settlement
short and medium-term global target scenarios
goal scenarios by thematic field for the short and medium term
ecological-economic zoning of the settlement
general action strategies and by thematic area
desired production matrix in the short and medium term
desired technological matrix in the short and medium term
processing of products and by-products
forms and levels of cooperation
demand for financial resources
organization of settlement management