The landless Movement in Brazil, or MST, was created as a result of the decreasing amount of land available to peasant farmers from rural areas of the country. Particularly during the ten years from 1975 to 1985, the concentration of land being owned by a few major landowners increased sharply, forcing up the number of landless peasants. As military dictatorship gave way to democratic government, peasants were encouraged to organise themselves. What had been isolated movements throughout the states of Brazil, became an organised cohesive movement, backed in particular by the Church's Pastoral Land Commission.

The MST, which is represented in 19 states, tries to organise itself through peasants' commissions: grass-roots commissions in rural communities, to struggle for land; representatives commissions in towns; state level commissions and a national Co-ordinating Commission. National and state meetings are held annually, whilst a National Congress is held every five years. The MST represents upto 4 million families of landless peasants.

Through intensive lobbying, the MST has effected government land reform, albeit only on a relatively small scale thus far. Once resettlement is achieved, each family receives an average of 15 hectares of land. The total resettlement areas are between 500 and 10,000 hectares, of which 20% is designated an ecological reserve. Each total area has a communal area for the community centre, churches, school, first aid centre, and where possible, warehouses and other community services.