Contemporary Public Policies to Strengthen Family Farming in the International Perspective: A Bibliometric Study

Family farming produces most of the fresh food consumed in large urban centers. However, its success depends on a variety of public policies, which range from strengthening the means of production to supporting marketing channels. In this article, we conduct a careful bibliometric analysis of studies in the international literature that address “family farming, public policies, and socioeconomic development”. The aim of the study is to identify and classify the public policies aimed at supporting family farming and socioeconomic development. We carried out a systematic literature review considering five international scientific journal databases using pairs of the keywords “public policies”, “family farming” and “socioeconomic development”. The resulting sample was a total of 625 articles, covering the period between 1984 and 2020. A bibliometric analysis of the first 50 articles selected by the Methodi Ordinatio tool was performed. For the final portfolio, 10 variables were analyzed to better assess and understand the current literature. Our analysis shows an increase in publications in the last five years, with articles from South America being more prevalent than those from other continents. Brazil being one of the key countries that has developed public policies aimed at family farming and rural socioeconomic development.

An overview of family fish farming: social, politics and food security implications

One characteristic that can be observed in family farming is the diversity of activities that are carried out concurrently on the property, providing and guaranteeing products for personal consumption or sale over the course of the year. Fish farming, an activity destined for fish production, is often one of these activities developed by family farmers and contributes to the access to quality protein for rural families and to increase income. Furthermore, the techniques used for fish production in family farming can foment a sustainable form of production. However, the lack of incentives regarding extension projects, marketing barriers, the lack of integration of traditional communities in decision making, and the absence of adequate technical information for the reality of rural properties make this activity limited and even ineffective in some regions. The encouragement of this activity could provide family farmers with improved economic conditions and food security and, consequently, the reduction of poverty in rural areas. The present study originated from a bibliographic review that addresses the activity of fish production and its impacts on the development of rural family activities, food security, and public and social policies for the maintenance, regularity, and quality of the final product.

Factors associated with the purchase of family farming products for national school feeding program in Minas Gerais in 2017, Brazil

ABSTRACT: The National School Feeding Program (in abbreviated Portuguese: PNAE) states that ≥30% of the amount transferred by the National Fund for Education Development (in abbreviated Portuguese: FNDE) to the executing entities should be used to purchase products made from Family Farming (FF). This study aimed to identify the municipal characteristics associated with the compliance of the municipalities of Minas Gerais (MG) to this target in 2017. For this, data on municipal purchases of FF for the PNAE were obtained from the FNDE’s website. Sociodemographic, economic, and agricultural characteristics of the municipalities were associated with compliance to the PNAE’s goal. Approximately half (55.07%) of the municipalities complied with the FF purchase target, wherein carrying out programs or actions to encourage organic agriculture (29.8% vs. 22.6%, p=0.018) were associated with a greater compliance to this target, presenting the official rural union registration (76.4% vs. 68.8%, p=0.026) and the Municipal Inspection Service: (35.6% vs. 29.1%, p=0.048). Overall, a low compliance to the goal was observed in MG municipalities, and associations between certain agricultural management characteristics and goal fulfillment were evidenced.

Co-producing knowledge with family farming organizations: a citizen science observatory in Santarém, Brazilian Amazon

This data paper presents a survey conducted in a participatory manner in the territory of Santarém, in the Brazilian Amazon. The aim is to understand how global changes are affecting family farmers. In the study area, family farming has been confronted over the past 20 years with the rapid expansion of large-scale monocultures, especially soybean. As part of the Odyssea socio-environmental observatory, academic researchers and family farming organizations entered into a partnership to co-produce data that could be strategically useful for these organizations. A process of co-construction of the expectations allowed priorities to be established and the data collection strategy to be defined. Three levels of analysis were chosen in order to allow an integrated understanding of the dynamics of change: the Santarem Plateau territory, the rural community level (living place recognized by the farmers) and the farmers’ households. Twenty-one farmers, called community researchers, organized in 3 teams, applied a questionnaire through the KoboCollect smartphone application to 544 families in the municipalities of Santarém, Mojuí dos Campos and Belterra. Meetings were previously held in the rural communities and questionnaires were applied with representatives of 32 communities. Data was collected between April and June 2019. The community researchers and academic researchers then came together for two collective sessions of data analysis and interpretation in July and October 2019. Data was standardized and cleaned using SPSS software, between September and December 2019. The metadata and databases are available on the CIRAD dataverse.

Family farm succession: evidence from absorptive capacity, social capital, and socioeconomic aspects

Farm succession is a process socially built from the preparation of the successor and the farm to meet a family business’ expectations. This study aimed to identify how social capital, absorptive capacity, and socioeconomic characteristics influence farm succession. The survey was conducted sampling 82 soybean and corn Brazilian farmers. The questionnaire measured socioeconomic characteristics, Absorptive Capacity (AC), and Social Capital (SC). To test the influence of AC, SC, and socioeconomic characteristics on farm succession, Spearman correlation coefficient (rs) was performed. Results showed that the absorptive capacity can influence farm succession through acquisition, assimilation, use, and transformation of external knowledge into decision making, supporting the definition of successors. Results also suggested that social capital plays an important role to form relationship networks, stimulating discussions, and supporting the designation of successors. The socioeconomic characteristics ‘percentage of family income from the farm, participation in courses and lectures, and being a cooperatives member’ also presented a significant positive correlation with farm succession. Issues related to the capacity to absorb external knowledge, social and symbolic capital and generational transference can be fundamental in the continuity of the family farming business.

Horta Comunitária e Quintais Produtivos da Comunidade Coelho Atikum Jurema e os Desafios da Covid-19 / Community Garden and Productive Backyards of the Coelho Atikum Jurema Community and the Challenges of Covid-19

A pandemia de Covid-19 gerou grandes mudanças na forma de comercializar os produtos da agricultura familiar. Foram dois anos de perdas e incertezas, mas também de redefinição das formas de produção e comercialização dos produtos da agricultura familiar. Neste contexto encontra-se a Comunidade Coelho Atikum Jurema, que, após anos de luta, implantou um projeto de horta comunitária e quintais produtivos. Neste espaço os agricultores familiares passaram a cultivar, de forma orgânica, e baseado na agricultura Atikum, espécies de olerícolas, mediante uma gestão coletiva e parental. Com o objetivo de identificar como a horta comunitária foi afetada pela Covid-19, realizou-se uma pesquisa descritiva, qualiquantitativa, no período de setembro a dezembro de 2021, onde foi possível identificar uma série de adversidades enfrentadas pela comunidade em adaptar-se ao mercado que surgiu como consequência das regras de convívio social, impostas em decorrência da Covid-19, as quais impactaram diretamente nas técnicas mercadológicas empregadas pela comunidade.---The Covid-19 pandemic generated major changes in the way in which family farming products are sold. There were two years of losses and uncertainties, but also of redefining the ways of production and marketing of family farm products. In this context is the Coelho Atikum Jurema Community, which, after years of struggle, implemented a project for a community garden and productive backyards. In this space, family farmers started to cultivate, organically, and based on Atikum agriculture, vegetable species, through collective and parental management. In order to identify how the community garden was affected by Covid-19, a descriptive, qualitative and quantitative research was carried out from September to December 2021, where it was possible to identify a series of adversities faced by the community in adapting to the market that emerged as a result of the rules of social interaction, imposed as a result of Covid-19, which directly impacted the marketing techniques used by the community.

Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Agroecological Family Farming in the Backlands Territory from Araripe in Pernambuco

The present reality of the Pandemic caused by the COVID-19, is characterized by new adaptations in the decrease of the social and economic activities, with the social isolations, in cities and countryside communities, causing a decrease in the commercialization of food by the familiar agriculture, damaging the activities of social organization and rural technical advice in the sustainable development of agricultural activities, by the non-governmental institutions and representative entities of the civil society, in the implementation of public policies assisted to the farmers, having a greater consequence in the social vulnerability and rural poverty. The present article aims to study the effects of the pandemic on family farming in the territory of the backlands from Araripe in the state of Pernambuco, describing the strategies adopted in the social organization of countryside communities, in reducing the social impacts of the pandemic on family farming. Through a bibliographical research, based on academic literature, newspapers and institutional reports, on the activities of rural technical assistance with principles of agro-ecology, developed during the period of incidences of the pandemic. As a result, technological strategies were identified in the remote media, for the activities of rural technical assistance, organization of marketing of food products from family farming, at home, in greengrocers and emporiums of solidary marketing, assisted by non-governmental institutions, in the development of motivational initiatives for rural families, in overcoming social and economic difficulties, during this phase of social isolation and safety protocols to the health of countryside area families and the entire world population.

Production and primary processing of grain in the Ung, Bereg, Ugocha and Maramoros counties in the Middle Ages

The present research deals with the medieval grain production and the primary processing of it in Ung, Bereg, Ugocsa and Maramures counties. In the Middle Ages, the primary foodstuff was bread, which could be made from a variety of grains. In today's Transcarpathia, bread was made primarily using wheat and rye, which were crucial parts of the everyday eating. After the founding of the Hungarian state, the branch of the food production underwent a transformation, namely the animal-husbandry was slowly replaced by tillage. With the continuous development of the village system, indoor and outdoor farming were also spreading. Grain was grown on arable land away from the house, which has been a high priority. In order to understand the system based on family farming, principally the number of family members must be calculated, and then the average number of settlements follows from the obtained data, which gives the amount of land required per families and settlements to produce grain for bread. The bread was baked in a two-week cycle, when the family gained 30 kg. The growing crops for bread is the first stage of the process, which is followed by milling, i.e. the second stage. Grinding took place in mills, of which several varieties are separated. In the case of our region, watermills were widespread, of which there are also several types. We separate a stream mill and a floating mill from water mills. In the case of our region, both varieties have been identified. The mills did not work all year round, they could only work at the proper water level. Therefore, neither in winter cold nor in summer the mill could not work, so the grinding of flour needed for bread took place mainly in spring and autumn. Mills were one of the most complex technological machines of the time, the operation and maintenance of which required a specialist with relevant knowledge. Mills can be used for grinding grain, as well as for sawing and grinding wood. By examining the available resources, tens of mills were localized in the four counties, which also sheds light on the technological development of the age.

Cannabis cultivation as a factor influencing scholastic performance

The secondary school performance of Ghomara’s students (coastal area of Chefchaouen province, Rif Mountain, Morocco) is deeply influenced by the cultivation of cannabis practiced by many Ghomarian families. To highlight this relationship, a field study was conducted with students, their parents, and other stakeholders through the adoption of a quantitative and qualitative sociological approach. It then appears that most of the students, especially boys, from cannabis families had annual averages assessment marks (AAM) less than 10/20. These marks do not allow them to continue their schooling. In addition, other factors are added to aggravate the already precarious situation, such as the need for manpower to carry out family farming activities, the social reluctance towards education, the inadequacy of education system to the labour market and the mistrust of the local population to the reforms of the national education system recently proposed by the government.

Potential of palm oil-based agro-diesel in Butembo region in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Oil dependence is one of the major global energy problems exacerbating impoverishment in developing countries and especially in rural areas. This study aims to highlight the observation of this dependence for the Butembo region and envisages measures to reduce it by developing a potentially profitable sector, a hapax opportunity for the economic development of the peasantry. It deals with the use of a non-rare energy, palm oil as an alternative to diesel. With this in mind, investigations have been conducted. They took us first to the customs institutions (DGDA) to raise the import share of diesel, then to facilities that have already experimented with palm oil as a fuel and finally to large consumers of diesel in the region (industrial, fuel pumping stations and other factories) to collect their opinions on agro- energy. From the investigations carried out, it appears that in the Butembo region the import of diesel takes a heavy price annually which overlaps 40,000,000 $US for the last three years (2015-2017). The opinions of the respondents contribute to a consensus. They believe that palm oil-based agro-energy is a necessity in the region. However, this process requires technical, environmental and socio-economic prerequisites. At the technical level, the technological package must first be fully mastered and controlled to avoid the setbacks already experienced in the region. In terms of the environment, the extension of the palm grove to support agro-energy will have to be done with all caution, avoiding the generalized deforestation of forest massifs that are shrinking at the margins of the region. Similarly, this development will have to avoid producing the opposite effect of the expected results, which would consist in blocking the rise of the peasantry by large agricultural firms that crush the small family farming that is vital for the people in the study region. Well conducted, this process of adoption of agro-energy in the Butembo region can keep its promises. It raises many hopes, only preconditions remain the big challenges