Lanterna Rally

Author: Anderson Borges Serra

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

Abstract: Background: Family farming is a means of organizing agricultural, forestry, fisheries, pastoral and aquaculture production that is managed and operated by a family and predominantly reliant on family capital and labor, and that includes labor from both men and women. The family and the farm property are linked, co-evolve and combine economic, environmental, social and cultural functions. Family farmers have the potential to contribute to rural development through food production and job creation, socio-environmental stabilization of rural landscapes, endogenous local development and rural poverty reduction. However, global transformation processes such as modernization of productive technologies, demand for increased productivity, the need to comply with new standards of agricultural markets, competition for land and water, land speculation, and rising prices of fuels and fertilizers directly affect family farmers and impose challenges to the continuation of agricultural activities and permanence of these families in the rural landscape. Against this background, there are doubts about the capability of family farmers to develop successful trajectories amid the transformations of the rural world, and about their ability to remain in the rural landscape in the future. Furthermore, it is unclear if these family farmers are the best option to solve society's current and future challenges. Aims: Initial aim of this research was to generate knowledge to promote an eventually existing potential of family farmers to contribute to sustainable rural development for the benefit of local and global societies. To that end, the types of farmers were identified, and the socioeconomic reproduction trajectories of the farmers present in the rural landscape were described and analyzed as factors of the rural context and as characteristics of the farmers' influence on their respective trajectories. The socioeconomic and environmental impacts of different types of farmers in the rural landscape were assessed, and the requirements of how to promote trajectories of small-scale farmers that contribute to a sustainable rural development were identified. Study area and methodology approach: The research was conducted in the Brazilian Amazon, in the southwest of the state of Pará, in a region known as the Trans-Amazon highway. The methodological approach was mixed, with qualitative and quantitative procedures for data collection, processing and analysis. Interviews were conducted with key informants, including farmers, social leaders and public agents. Secondary sources were consulted through literature reviews, official documents and statistics, and field trips were made to collect quantitative and qualitative primary data. The field data were collected in five municipalities, with one representative sampling area in each municipality. In each sampling area, a survey was carried out about the history of the farmers' occupation of the communities, from the beginning of the occupation of the rural landscape in the 1970s until 2014. Overall, the research considered a total of777 rural properties on 148,000 hectares of occupied area, and 1,458 farmers. A typology of farmers was done based on five criteria: (i.) family labor; (ii.) poverty; (iii.) origin of income; (iv.) income composition; and (v.) composition of the production system. Trajectories of the farmer families were elaborated concerning the following criteria: (i.) mobility in the landscape; (ii.) size of rural property; (iii.) composition of the production system; (iv.) socioeconomic status; and (v.) origin of family income. Aspects that influenced farmers' trajectories were(i.) accessibility; (ii.) soil fertility; (iii.) land tenure; (iv.) rural credit; and (v.) agricultural markets; as well as, from a family sphere perspective, (vi.) family labor. To assess the farmers' role regarding sustainable rural development, the following aspects were considered: (i.) food security, (ii.) generation of employment, and (iii.) social inclusion, from asocial perspective; (iv.) growth of the economy, (v.) generation of taxes, and (vi.) stimulation of local economy, from an economic perspective; and, from an environmental perspective, (vii.) forest conservation. Results: The farmers along the Transamazon highway show a large diversity regarding their socioeconomic, productive and environmental characteristics, reflecting the ecological, institutional and infrastructural diversity of the region as well as their individual histories. This large and ever-14 changing universe of farmers can be grouped into 11 types based on the criteria of labor, family income, income origin, production system and share of non-agricultural and urban activity to the family income. This categorization includes the eight small-scale farmer types: Subsistence; Vegetable; Commodities; Cattle; Cattle & Agriculture; Diversified; Off-farm Dependent; and Urban Residence; and the three types of medium and large-scale farmers: Cattle; Diversified; and Urban Investors. Each farmer type relates to specific social, economic and environmental features with relevance to the issue of sustainable rural development. Small-scale farmers and farmers with more diversified production systems show a more positive contribution than farmers exclusively engaged in cattle, particularly at a large-scale, as well as subsistence farmers. In accordance with this result, the Diversification, as well as, to a lesser degree, the Crop Specialization trajectories positively contribute to sustainable rural development considering all analysed aspects, whereas the trajectories Cattle Specialization and Stagnation demonstrate very negative impacts. In general, small-scale farmers, with the exception of subsistence and specialized cattle farmers, from a societal perspective, show a better performance than medium and large-scale farmers, with the exception of strongly diversified farmers. However, over time, the vast majority of the settled land have been occupied by only some few types of farmers, namely those engaged in cattle specialization (Small Cattle, Small Cattle & Agriculture and Large Cattle), and Urban Investors. In the future, this land concentration trend is expected to continue. Accordingly, it is an expansive and standardized model of agriculture showing the least favourable performance with regard to the aspect of sustainable rural development that increasingly dominates the region. Simultaneously however, alternative modes of farming show a positive performance of consolidation, whenever on small portions of the rural landscape. This includes mainly farmers engaged in the trajectories of Crop Specialization and Diversification, particularly the latter also including medium and large-scale farmers. In addition, there is a trend of Urbanization where farmers manage their fields from their urban residences and in which they increasingly depend on off-farm sources of income. In this sense, the study also shows that a significant share of family famers has the capacity to adapt to emerging opportunities, so that family farming will continue being a central component of the rural Amazon. But the degree of success of family farmers in the highly competitive contexts of the Amazon depends on favourable conditions. The probability of success of family farming increases with good accessibility of the farms, the availability of fertile soils, and titled rural properties. Additionally, attractive agricultural markets and effective logistics are needed as well as access to adequate finance. Conclusions: The findings suggest that family farming could play an essential role for the future of the region. The promotion of diversification and specialization trajectories of small-scale farmers is an excellent option to foster sustainable rural development in the post-frontier areas of the Amazon. However, in view of the continuous expansion of cattle ranching and large-scale agriculture, more accentuated policies are needed to support family farmers. This may include: (i.) limit agrarian reform settlement projects to favourable contexts regarding accessibility and soil fertility providing small properties manageable with family labor; (ii.) concentrate support to small-scale farmers engaged in diversification and specialization trajectories; (iii.) allow and foster non-agricultural activities of beneficiaries of agrarian reform actions as a means to diversify and stabilize their livelihood basis; (iv.) adjust rural credit programs to better respond to the existing diversity of farmer's activities; (v.) improve the accessibility and quality of public services provided in rural settings regarding markets, finance, administration, but also in the area of education and health; (vi.) effectively protect rural spaces from cattle ranchers and urban investors