Abstract:"Brazilian poverty rates are generally highest among family farmers in the country’s Northeast region. Of special note among rural development policies is the National Land Credit Programme (Programa Nacional de Crédito Fundiário—PNCF), which provides credit to farmers with little or no land to buy a property and carry out the necessary improvements. However, in an effort to reduce default rates, to receive credit, farmers are required to be organised; therefore, the policy indirectly promotes association and the generation of social capital (the assets that are the result of social relations). Thus, although not explicitly the policy’s main objective, the generation of social capital can contribute towards rural development in the country". (…)