Produção de sentidos sobre políticas públicas para agricultoras(es) familiares do Distrito Arajara em Barbalha-CE

Abstract

In this work we approach the daily life, ways of life and the meanings produced by family farmers in relation to life in rural contexts, family farming and Public Policies for Family Agriculture (Políticas Públicas para Agricultura Familiar – PPAF) implemented in the Cariri region of Ceará. We established as a focus of the study the discursive production of family farmers in rural contexts and as a general objective: to understand the meanings produced by family farmers in relation to public policies for family farming implemented in the Cariri Region. We outline specific objectives: I. To analyze the discursive positions of the legislation related to family agriculture in Brazil; II. Investigate the conceptions of rural present in the investigated group; III. Characterize the main productive practices in family units; IV. Identify continuities and ruptures in the ways of life of family farmers. The research was developed in two axes. The first, from 2018 to 2020, is dedicated to the analysis of official documents related to family farming and public policies for the sector in Brazil using the analysis of documents in the public domain. The second, carried out throughout the doctoral period, and especially between 2020 and 2021, with the production of data in the field through observations and conversations in everyday life, and interviewing subjects who have dedicated their lives to family farming activities, to the leadership of their communities and that throughout this process they participated in PPAF aimed at the sector. The interviews took place in three rural communities that make up the Arajara District, in the municipality of Barbalha, in the Cariri Region of Ceará. As the main results of our analysis, we highlight the following lines of argument: 1. The name 'family agriculture' aims to aggregate actresses/actors from rural and urban contexts around a single term, bringing together different producers beyond agriculture; 2. The PPAFs implemented in Brazil act as catalysts for social change in rural contexts. 3. The discourses that circulate - and also feed back, among the residents, technicians and academics, the political observations and decisions, of which we highlight public policies - affect and update the daily lives and ways of life in rural contexts. The interlocutors registered in our discursive exchanges the centrality they attribute to work, the relevance of close relationships with the family and their communities and the symbolic value of agriculture. Regarding public policies, families regretfully highlighted the reduction in resources from programs such as the Food Acquisition Program (Programa de Aquisição de Alimento – PAA) and the National School Feeding Program (Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar – Pnae), which contribute to the food and nutritional security of beneficiaries of social assistance entities, education, and also provide opportunities for them to improve their income and working conditions. They position themselves positively in relation to the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar – Pronaf). Finally, we point out that the continuity of the credit granting program disconnected from other PPAF is insufficient for the valorization and maintenance of this social category.