O papel da avicultura na construção do território e na reprodução social da agricultura familiar : o caso de Chapecó e Quilombo no oeste catarinense

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2009

RESUMO

The western region of Santa Catarina state is symbolic in terms of the rural world dynamics because of its strength at the agro-industries production into a historical development process based on family agriculture production. The territory construction was the result of an interaction process between this social category and the agro-industries. In this sense, the poultry production chain got a great importance into the territorial sustainability, because of its substance in the economy and the territorial dynamics. The large social capital accumulated over time was crucial to the success of the agro-industries. Recently, some studies have pointed to a crisis among family farmers in general, touching the people of the Santa Catarina West region through the difficulty of the rural population for its social reproduction, with processes of masculinization and emptying of the rural areas and the increasingly environmental pressures. The present study aimed to determine the specific situation of the poultry farmers integrated to medium and large agro-industries in this context of family farming crisis. The research is part of the AVITER Project Poultry chain in France and Brazil: impacts at the sustainable development of production basins and of the territories which is a partnership between Brazilian and French institutions in order to examine the relationship that the poultry has with the territories, and which is the role that the poultry implement when discussing sustainable territorial development. 57 interviews were conducted with poultry farmers and related industry leaders in rural communities from Chapecó and Quilombo in the west of Santa Catarina, seeking to verify the role that the poultry applies into the territorial construction and into the farmers social reproduction process. The results pointed to some crisis elements that affect, in a different manner, the poultry farmers of the region. Between these factors, the question about the need for technological innovation got prominence, requiring for that large investments; the environmental question, which just starts to become a limiting factor for agro-industrial activities, especially in relation to the waste destination and the irrational water use; and lack of labor to work in poultry, especially because of the difficulty to find a professional successor within the own family. This last element of the crisis is treated as a major limiting factor to the activity continuity in the region, and the data point to a transformation process into the family agriculture that goes beyond economic issues. From the analysis of interviews, considering the crisis elements mentioned, it was possible to make a categorization of the poultry farmers studied, dividing them in the homogeneous groups: Ex-poultry farmers, traditional family poultry farmers, professional poultry family farmers and business poultry farmers, pointing to a trend of professionalism and expertise in the activity and providing subsidies for a differentiated treatment in relation to specific policies for each category. The conclusions point to a "deconstruction" process of the territory as the social capital, intangible and non-transferable, begins to undo itself through the transformation processes. It also points to the overcome need for the crisis elements, responsible for the conflicts between poultry farmers and agro-industries, and the need for a better use of the potential resources that the territory has to promote a sustainable territorial development.

ASSUNTO(S)

agronomia ave - - criação familias rurais - santa catarina, oeste agricultura agroecossistemas agroindustria - santa catarina, oeste

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