Family farming and sustainable rural development

African journal of agricultural research

This study aimed to evaluate social and environmental aspects of family farming at Cacoal City, Rondonia State, in Brazil. This is applied in non-experimental (descriptive) research. Questionnaire was designed as the main tool of the study. Eleven (11) semi-structured interviews were conducted with family farmers from eleven cooperative associations. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed in the scientific research, using a questionnaire consisting of twenty four questions that sought to evaluate environmental aspects of the sample of family farmers. It was concluded that agriculture continues to be basis of the local development and rurality model found in the Western Amazon Brazil.

African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2014

This study aimed to evaluate social and environmental aspects of family farming at Cacoal City, Rondonia State, in Brazil. This is applied in non-experimental (descriptive) research. Questionnaire was designed as the main tool of the study. Eleven (11) semi-structured interviews were conducted with family farmers from eleven cooperative associations. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed in the scientific research, using a questionnaire consisting of twenty four questions that sought to evaluate environmental aspects of the sample of family farmers. It was concluded that agriculture continues to be basis of the local development and rurality model found in the Western Amazon Brazil.

Sustainability, 2020

The objective of this study is to investigate the conditions of family agriculture and the respective environmental impacts of agribusiness. The research methodology is grounded on a theoretical survey of study descriptions of the area, a characterization of rural communities and local population through interviews, an identification of medium and large agricultural enterprises through documentary research on environmental licensing processes, and determination of the environmental impacts of agribusiness via an interaction matrix. Based on the data generated, it was found that the majority of the population has an incomplete elementary education; is involved in agricultural activity, livestock farming, and honey production, which provide a family income of up to one minimum wage; and is located in rural communities with environmental sanitation restrictions. Moreover, it was found that irrigated agriculture has positive impacts, such as the generation of employment and income. It was also evidenced that this activity causes adverse socioeconomic impacts and adverse impacts on the traditional activities of local rural communities through plant removal, water scarcity, and pesticide use. Thus, to mitigate the problems, it is necessary to apply the principles of Brazilian Environmental Law as correlated with the instruments of the National Environment Policy through environmental management guidelines.

International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Science, 2020

The research focuses on discussing the dynamics between agroecology and family farming in the Brazilian semiarid region. Family plays a significant part in the production of food on the Brazilian territory, contributing to its socioeconomic development, as it generates jobs, contributes to the local economy and diversifies production while contributing to lessen environmental impacts. Therefore, this article aims to analyze the agroecological discourse and practical strategies used in family farming and its role in the socioeconomic development of the Brazilian Semiarid region, by means of a systematic literature review. The works retained center on the following themes: public policies, land management and territoriality, cultivated varieties, and the issues surrounding water usage.

AI Publication, 2019

The present research aimed to investigate the difficulties faced by family farming in an area of Brazil. To this end bibliographic research was conducted and also field research using the data collection technique of interviewing family farmers of the Astra Association of Line 09 in Cacoal City, Rondônia/Brazil. The results of this work reveal that, despite the significant advances that family farming has made in recent years in the country and the state of Rondônia, it still faces certain difficulties; those identified in the research were the accessibility of credit, prices set by middlemen, poor quality roads for transporting production and the lack of specialized technicians when help is needed. Such problems require public policies to enrich farming enterprises, valuing farmers, promoting the stability of their conditions, and providing means of increased production, besides better structure and consequently a better quality of life.

Sustainability

Concerning sustainability and food production, efforts are made by social, political, and environmental actors to enact changes in production and consumption patterns and adopt new management models and instruments. Hunger, waste, poor distribution of food, and low diversity affect many countries, and small family farmers are abandoning their activities due to the challenges which minimize the possibilities of contemplating SDG 12. Local production and SDG 12 favor access to safe and cheaper food, thereby encouraging food security and minimizing food waste. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with the participation of local actors in 16 municipalities in southern Brazil. The study took a qualitative research approach and content analysis was used as a mode of investigation. It was then possible to provide assistance to the decision-making process of local and regional public authorities in terms of development to support sustainable production and consumption. This study high...

2019

In the Brazilian Amazon, rural settlements are increasingly isolated by large-scale production farms, jeopardizing their sustainability and the good living of family farmers. Works were carried out in settlements to measure sustainability. However, the majority does not consider the participation and the collectively of those involved. In this way, we propose to evaluate, in a collective and participatory way, the sustainability and good living of the SDP São Paulo Rural Settlement, of the northern Amazon of Mato Grosso. We used the didactic-pedagogical method Circle of Sustainability, developed from five points: 1st-circle of investigation of generating themes; 2ndcircle of the history of the subject world; 3rd-circle of diagnosis of rural settlements; 4th-circle of exchange of knowledge; and 5th-circle of sustainable perceptions and narratives. The historical, socioeconomic and cultural characterization of the settlement allowed us to understand how sustainability and good living are being built in the settlement history process. Sustainability and good living are dialectical processes, are under construction, in movement.

This article is about the feasibility and the sustainability of Brazilian family farming systems. In the first part, the concepts of the economic and social feasibility of family farming are dealt with, as well as the context of the debate on sustainable development and family agriculture in Brazil. The consequences of economic, global environment and the specifications of public politics on the matter of Brazilian family farming introduce the second part. In the context of regional economic integration and globalisation, three challenges as to the sustainability of family farming are taken from some concrete cases in Brazil: (1) the reproduction of threatened agroecosystems, (2) local politics of sustainable development, (3) the integration of fringed segments and the creating of jobs and income in rural areas. As well as this analyses of the main obstacles for the realising of the recommendations, object of the present developmental discourses, some clues and alternatives are identified. It is, for instance, the case of collective action, considered as a privileged interface for the articulation among the levels of individual action and those of public action.

The complexity of the current problems in the Colombian countryside puts at risk the sustainability of family Agricultural Production Units (UPA for its acronym in Spanish). Consequently, it becomes a fundamental study area for the improvement of the rural economy. For this reason, a documentary, field investigation was developed on a case study located in Lebrija, Colombia, for the systemic analysis of economic sustainability in 10 UPAS promoters of sustainable agriculture. The results allowed to establish the effectiveness of the ES in the Characterization of UPAs. It was identified that the lack of investment in infrastructure and appropriate technologies has made the UPAs to allocate 50% of its total area for inadequate grazing. This distribution of land threatens the sustainability of the economy of local families, given that the production and profitability of livestock are not enough for their livelihood and the maintenance of pastures. The inadequate grazing generates large amounts of manure that pollutes the environment. The above affects the congruence between the productive activities and the philosophical principles of the UPAs.

IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology (IOSR-JESTFT), 2023

This article aims to analyze the role of government programs to support family farming in the socioeconomic development of rural areas. Initially, a historical overview of these programs is presented, from the 1990s to the present day, highlighting the changes and developments that have taken place over the years. The benefits that family farming support programs bring to the socioeconomic development of rural areas, such as increased food production, job and income generation, and strengthening of the local economy, among others, are analyzed. The challenges and limitations faced by family farming support programs, such as bureaucracy, lack of resources, and low effectiveness, are also identified.Next, some successful elements of family farming support programs in different regions of the country are highlighted. Overall, government programs to support family farming have been shown to be important for the socioeconomic development of rural areas in Brazil, generating jobs and income, strengthening the local economy, and increasing food production.