Economic liberalization and the rise of global competition have increased the importance of agricultural, technical, and business skills for small farmers in Brazil. However, many rural farmers are unable to attend agricultural technical schools due to low educational attainment. The first section of this paper discusses the impact that liberalization of the Brazilian economy has had on small rural producers in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Section 2 examines institutional challenges inherent in the Brazilian rural education system that contribute to the marginalization of rural populations. These include rural-urban differences in enrollment and dropout rates, the effects of child labor, and the lack of practical relevance of school-based agricultural education. Section 3 describes the Programa de Formacao de Jovens Empresarios Rurais (PROJOVEM), developed by the University of Sao Paulo in collaboration with the Paulo Souza Center for Educational Technology and the state government. PROJOVEM is a 3-year alternative program to prepare rural adolescents to administer and manage small farms competitively and sustainably. Using the "pedagogy of alternancia," the program provides 1 week of training per month in a group setting. Learning is focused on student projects on their own farms. A final section discusses the potential of programs such as PROJOVEM for rural adolescents and rural development. An appendix explains the principles of the pedagogy of alternancia, a constructivist, hands-on approach developed in rural France by Abade Granereau. (Contain 25 references.) (SV)