Comissão Pastoral da Terra

What Comissão Pastoral da Terra does

Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) is a Brazilian Catholic pastoral organization founded in 1975 under the guidance of the National Bishop Conference (CNBB) to defend the rights of rural workers, landless peasants, indigenous peoples, quilombolas, extractivists, and other traditional communities. The organization operates as a non-profit entity, funded through donations, partnerships, and solidarity contributions, and provides its services — including documentation of rural conflicts, orientation for affected workers, legal accompaniment, community organizing, and advocacy at municipal, state, federal, and international levels — free of charge. It is headquartered in Goiânia (Goiás) at the National Secretariat, with regional teams operating across 13 Brazilian states and biome-level articulations covering the Amazon (9 states) and the Cerrado (9 states).

CPT's core activities center on documenting rural conflicts (its annual Conflitos no Campo Brasil report is the most comprehensive historical record of land conflicts in Brazil, dating to 1985), combating contemporary slave labor (through the 'De Olho Aberto para não virar Escravo' campaign launched in 1997, which is associated with the rescue of over 63,000 people over 30 years), and defending traditional territories in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes. Major campaign brands include De Olho Aberto, Campanha do Cerrado, Agro é Fogo, Romaria da Terra e das Águas, Mobilização dos Povos pela Terra e pelo Clima (COP 30), and Campanha da Fraternidade. The organization maintains formal coordination with REPAM (Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network), Base Ecclesial Communities, the Pan-Amazonian Social Forum, and a coalition of 56+ organizations in the Cerrado campaign.

The business model is non-commercial: there is no pricing model, no SaaS or software products, no technology stack beyond a website built by civic-tech partner Cooperativa EITA, and no disclosed revenue figures. The organization monetizes its impact exclusively through donations and grants, converting them into field programs, documentation, and advocacy. Notable institutional milestones include the 1975 founding, the 1997 anti-slavery campaign launch, the 2009 Amazon articulation, the 2011/2012 Cerrado articulation, and the June 2025 50-year Jubilee. Documented social impact includes 56 recorded massacres with 293 fatalities since 1985, 1,622 rural workers rescued from slave labor in 2024, and over 200 water springs protected through community mobilization in Mato Grosso.

Name

Comissão Pastoral da Terra

Legal name

Comissão Pastoral da Terra

Website

https://cptnacional.org.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) is a Brazilian Catholic non-profit founded in 1975 that documents rural conflicts, combats contemporary slave labor, and supports landless, indigenous, and traditional communities across 13 Brazilian states, operating through donations and a national-plus-regional team structure.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rural Rights Advocacy Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Land Trusts & Protected Areas (BPAGAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

Keywords

• Rural rights advocacy
• Land conflict documentation
• Slave labor prevention
• Peasant community organizing
• Agrarian reform support

Headquarters

HQ city

Goiânia

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Infrastructure

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) is a Catholic pastoral organization that provides free advocacy, legal accompaniment, documentation, and community organizing services to rural workers, landless families, indigenous peoples, and traditional communities in Brazil. Its core activities include preventing and eradicating contemporary slave labor, documenting rural conflicts and massacres, supporting agrarian reform, and defending the Amazon and Cerrado biomes through regional teams and national campaigns. The organization is funded through donations, solidarity contributions, and partnerships rather than commercial sales.

Product overview

Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) is a Catholic pastoral organization, not a technology company. It does not offer commercial software products or technology services. Its activities consist of advocacy, campaigning, documentation of land conflicts, publications (Jornal Pastoral da Terra), and pastoral support to rural communities in Brazil. Major campaigns include: 'De Olho Aberto para não virar Escravo' (National Campaign to Prevent and Combat Slave Labor), 'Campanha do Cerrado' (Campaign to Defend the Cerrado), 'Agro é Fogo' (Fire is Agro - Amazon defense articulation), 'Romaria da Terra e das Águas' (Land and Water Pilgrimage), 'Mobilização dos Povos pela Terra e pelo Clima' (Mobilization of Peoples for Land and Climate), and 'Campanha da Fraternidade' (Fraternity Campaign). The organization also maintains archives of field conflicts ('Conflitos no Campo'), documents massacres in rural Brazil, and provides support to traditional communities. No commercial technology products, software-as-a-service offerings, or digital platforms are offered based on available source material.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• De Olho Aberto para não virar Escravo: Campaign against contemporary slave labor created by CPT in 1997
• Campanha do Cerrado
• Romaria da Terra e das Águas
• Jornal Pastoral da Terra
• Mobilização dos Povos pela Terra e pelo Clima

Products and services

• De Olho Aberto para não virar Escravo (Keep Your Eyes Open So You Don't Become a Slave) Campaign

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 63,000 people rescued from slave labor conditions over 30 years through the Mobile Inspection Group
• +4 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Articulação das CPT's do CerradocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Initiated in 2011 and formalized in 2012, this articulation brings together CPT regional agents working in Cerrado areas. The focus is on contributing to the articulation of Cerrado communities and raising awareness about the strategic importance of the biome. Today it is promoted by 56 organizations, social movements and entities.
• Articulação das CPT's da AmazôniacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009Created in 2009, this articulation brings together CPT regional teams from the 9 states of the Legal Amazon (Acre, Amazonas, Amapá, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, and Tocantins). They develop collective projects and initiatives to address the realities of this vast and diverse region, dialoguing with other pastorals, networks, organizations, forums and articulations including at international level with neighboring Amazon countries.
• De Olho Aberto para não virar Escravo CampaigncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1997Created in 1997, this national campaign for the prevention and combat of slave labor is a flagship initiative of the CPT. It operates through regional teams currently present in various Brazilian states, conducting preventive actions, systematizing data, filing complaints, and advocating for public policies.
• Rede Eclesial Pan-Amazônica (REPAM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe CPT articulates with REPAM (Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network) strengthening relationships within the Church. REPAM is a key partner especially in the context of COP 30 and the articulation of Amazonian peoples and movements.
• Campanha Nacional em Defesa do CerradocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPromoted by 56 organizations, social movements and entities, this campaign with the theme 'Sem Cerrado, Sem Água, Sem Vida' (No Cerrado, No Water, No Life) aims to alert and raise awareness in society about the importance of the biome and the devastating impacts of agribusiness, mining and infrastructure projects.
• Fórum Social Pan-Amazônico (FOSPA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCPT participates in the Pan-Amazonian Social Forum, contributing to this important space for international dialogue about problems affecting populations of nearly a dozen countries that make up the Amazon.
• Rede de Trabalho Amazônico (GTA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the Amazon Work Network for joint actions including the 'Draw the Line / Delimite' campaign against oil exploration in the Amazon estuary.
• Campanha da FraternidademinorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual campaign of the Brazilian Catholic Church, with CPT involvement in issues related to land, housing, and fraternity themes.
• Various Civil Society Organizations in Cerrado CampaigncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Campanha Nacional em Defesa do Cerrado involves 56 organizations, movements and entities working together in defense of the Cerrado biome and its peoples.
• Comunidades Eclesiais de Base (CEBs)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBase Ecclesial Communities are key partners in CPT's grassroots organizing and advocacy work, especially in the Amazon region.
• Instituto Zé Cláudio e MariacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounded by the sister of assassinated environmental activists Zé Cláudio and Maria do Espírito Santo, this institute works in defense of threatened Amazonian leaders and in education of traditional populations. Co-organizer of the Romaria dos Mártires da Floresta.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Instituto Socioambiental (ISA): Leading Brazilian NGO combining indigenous-rights advocacy with Amazon biodiversity and territorial protection. Directly comparable on land-defense, biomes work, and indigenous community support — operating in many of the same geographies and often partnering with CPT.
• Repórter Brasil: Brazilian investigative NGO specializing in contemporary slave labor, supply-chain transparency, and rural worker rights. Directly comparable to CPT's anti-slavery work and increasingly overlaps with CPT on corporate accountability and international advocacy targeting Brazilian supply chains.
• Conselho Indigenista Missionário (CIMI): Also a Catholic-Brazilian organization under CNBB that defends indigenous peoples' rights and territories. Most directly comparable peer to CPT given shared ecclesiastical affiliation, advocacy approach, regional team structure, and overlap on Amazon/Cerrado land-defense issues.
• Comissão Pastoral dos Pescadores (CPP): Sister pastoral commission of the Brazilian Catholic Church focused on artisanal fisherfolk and coastal traditional communities. Comparable in governance structure, CNBB affiliation, regional-team model, and rights-based accompaniment methodology — extending CPT's pastoral approach to aquatic territories.
• Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST): Brazil's primary landless-workers' movement focused on agrarian reform, land occupations, and defense of small farmers. Highly comparable mission to CPT (land rights, peasant communities) but operates through mass mobilization rather than pastoral accompaniment, making it a strategic complement as much as a peer.

Others

• Rede Eclesial Pan-Amazônica (REPAM): Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network coordinating Catholic pastoral and social action across nine Amazon countries. CPT is a strategic partner of REPAM rather than a competitor; included because REPAM's convening power around COP 30 and Amazon synod processes materially shapes CPT's operating environment and funding access.

Emerging players

• Instituto Zé Cláudio e Maria: Brazilian institute defending threatened Amazonian leaders and educating traditional populations. Documented CPT partner (co-organizer of the Romaria dos Mártires da Floresta) and highly comparable mission to CPT on Amazon leader-protection, though smaller and more narrowly focused on security and memory.
• FASE – Federação de Órgãos para Assistência Social e Educacional: Long-established Brazilian civil-society federation working on food sovereignty, agrarian reform, and environmental justice. Comparable mission and regional footprint to CPT, with partial overlap on Amazon/Cerrado advocacy but distinct organizational form (federation of member entities).

Broad incumbents

• Conectas Direitos Humanos: Prominent Brazilian human-rights NGO engaging with UN, OAS, and other international bodies. Comparable to CPT on international advocacy and human-rights litigation strategy, though operating more broadly across social policy issues rather than specializing in rural and land conflicts.
• Greenpeace Brasil: Major international environmental-advocacy organization with a strong Amazon and Cerrado deforestation agenda. Overlaps with CPT's environmental and biome-defense work but operates at a much larger scale, with international fundraising capacity and mass-media campaigning rather than pastoral accompaniment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/agroefogo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/comiss%C3%A3o-pastoral-da-terra

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Comissão Pastoral da Terra