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Territorial analysis, development and evaluation of public policies for family farming
(2018-2019) Upon request from the Special Secretariat for Family Agriculture and Agrarian Development (SEAD), via the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the study carried out an extensive review of public policies aimed at Family Agriculture (FA), both from the conceptual point of view and from their practical application, allowing for the formulation of necessary adjustments and redirects, considering the structural changes of FA that occurred in the last decade._cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b- 136bad5cf58d_
The project showed that, between 2006 and 2015, the gross added value by AF grew 80%, following the growth of all Brazilian agriculture, while AF did not expand its exploration area, unlike non-family agriculture, which grew over 12 million hectares. The growth in economic value addition in this period came from a better use of production factors, including the increase in labor productivity.
The study also showed that PA is importantly inserted in several production chains such as commodities, basic food products and animal production, generating, in addition to economic growth, income distribution and social equity. However, the FA gradually lost its relative share in vegetable production, including chains that were traditional to it, such as beans, rice and wheat, at the same time that it was projected to increase the competitiveness of FA in animal production chains (swine, poultry, milk ) and high value-added vegetable production, the main example of which is coffee production, a chain in which Brazil is the world's largest producer and AF accounts for almost half of this production. A comparative analysis of data between the 2006 and 2017 Agricultural Censuses carried out in the study also indicated trends of relative aging of the rural population, increase in income from activities developed outside the establishments and a process of land fragmentation, with possible loss of productive function in small establishments. Such dynamics occur simultaneously with an increase in the average area of establishments in some regions of the country, suggesting a process of productive concentration in medium and large establishments.