Based on the hypothesis that strengthening local agricultural production forms can generate employment and income while helping to reinvigorate society, we intend to evaluate Brazil's National Family Agriculture Strengthening Program's (PRON AF) Infrastructure and Services section, focusing on its credit line. After our introduction, we review the debate centered on family agriculture and local development. We then present the LEADER Program, implemented in the European Union to rebuild depressed regions, andPRONAF's Infrastructure and Services section: two programs intended to assist rural development. Lastly, we evaluate PRONAF's Infrastructure and Services section, identify the potential and limits of its credit line as a local development measure, and compare this Brazilian program with the European experience.