Desenvolvimento rural por meio da comercialização da agricultura familiar: um estudo de caso no Instituto Chão

Abstract

The general objective of this dissertation was to analyze rural development based on urban space strategies, using a case study between Instituto Chão and farmers from Iperó (SP) and Cristina (MG), in order to identify their commercialization processes and processing in family farming. According to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics - IBGE, the municipality of Iperó SP has an estimated population of 28,300 people, 38% of whom are in rural areas. Cristina-MG, on the other hand, has an estimated population of 10,242 people, of which 42% are in rural areas. The research method used was quantitative and qualitative. 25 forms were used with open and closed questions, which were filled out by the researcher. The dissertation is organized in the form of articles, thus constituted in general introduction, three chapters and general considerations. The second chapter was entitled: “Organization and Practices of Solidarity Economy With Family Farmers: The Case of Instituto Chão.” In this second chapter, it was observed that the marketing network between Instituto Chão and Family Farmers contributes to the strengthening of the production chain itself and there was an incentive to productive diversification, better working conditions, expansion of the environmental balance and greater autonomy of the rural producer. The third chapter was entitled: “The Chão Institute, the Diversification of Family Production and Environmental and Agroecological Aspects: work and quality of the environment, social relations and food itself”. In this third chapter, it is evident that the farmers presented a significant productive variety, improvement in the quality of the environment and in the environmental and agroecological aspects. It can be seen that the commercialization between the Institute and the farmers made it possible to create 11 new crops that started to be produced and sold in the organic market. In relation to environmental and agroecological aspects, it was observed that 60% of farmers practice the consortium of agricultural activities, 55% control plantation pests and diseases with natural products, 35% use green manure, 75% control weeds natural weeding, 100% use animal manure and plant remains and 85% know the term Agroecology. The fourth chapter was entitled: “The Socioeconomic Profile and the income improvement of farmers participating in Instituto Chão.” It was observed that among the surveyed farmers, 65% are male and 35% female, 40% are between 36 and 49 years old, 35% over 50 years old and 25% between 18 and 35 years old. Of the 20 farmers who participated in the survey, 50% declared themselves white, 40% black, 5% brown and 5% other. It was found that 55% have completed high school, 20% complete higher education, 15% incomplete elementary school and 10% complete elementary school. After commercialization with the Institute, the present study identified that the farmers' income had a significant increase of 45% (considering the range between 2 to 3 minimum wages) and an increase of 30% (considering the range between 3 to 4 minimum wages) . The present articles showed that the benefits resulting from commercialization with the Institute are: increased diversity of crops, improved income, investment in property, greater autonomy and production of foods that have the techniques and methods of organic agriculture.