DESAFIOS E SUPERAÇÃO DA AGRICULTURA FAMILIAR EM TEMPOS DE PANDEMIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.16891/2317-434X.v13.e3.a2025.id2506Keywords:
Family farming, Inclusive public policies, COVID-19Abstract
Strengthening family farming is essential to ensure access to healthy food, since the sector is responsible for 23% of the food produced in Brazil. Despite its importance, family farmers face structural challenges, aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the local context of Santa Rita de Cássia, in Barra Mansa, RJ. This study aimed to assess the challenges faced by these farmers during the pandemic, focusing on sociodemographic aspects, agricultural practices, and marketing. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study, carried out between December 2020 and October 2021, with 22 randomly selected family farmers. Of the interviewees, 72.7% were men, aged between 23 and 66 years old, with a predominance of the 30 to 43 age group. Regarding color/race, 86.4% declared themselves white, 9.1% black, and 4.5% brown. All of them produced vegetables, and 45.5% also grew vegetables, although none had organic certification. As for marketing, 59.1% participated in the National School Feeding Program (PNAE), while 40.9% were not part of this market. The results showed major difficulties in production and marketing, intensified by the pandemic. It is concluded that the implementation of more effective and collaborative public policies is essential to support these farmers, including the modernization of equipment and inclusion in digital markets as technological alternatives to promote sustainability and productive inclusion. These measures are essential to strengthen the resilience of the sector in the face of future crises.
