The family farming in the data of the agricultural census 2017

a comparative analysis of its “size” and profile among the three southern states

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analyze indicators of family farming (FA) in the 2017 Agricultural Census in the South Region, developing a comparison of its `size' and profile between the three states and between the groups of family farmers present in the census statistics [groups V (AF-V), B (AF-B) and non-Pronafian (AF-NP)]. Methodologically, the work is based on quantitative data from the 2017 Agricultural Census on family farming, taken from the Automatic Data Recovery System of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, analyzing fourteen (14) census indicators. The results demonstrate that southern AF is expressive in relation to the national one. Southern AFs are predominantly white, middle-aged to advanced men and have a low level of education. The AF in the South Region also presents a more commercialized profile in relation to the national one, as it seeks more Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (ATER), credit and commercialize its production in commercial circuits. Among the three states that make up the Southern Region, the results are similar in terms of the dynamics of the AF, with a great difference between the groups of AFs, in which there are, on the one hand, several socioeconomic and productive vulnerabilities of poor households (group B) and, on the other, more developed census indicators of the two other groups (V and NP).

Keywords: Family farming. Agricultural Census 2017. Southern Region. Rural and regional development.