A portrait of black farmers in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Dialoguing the 2017 Agricultural Census data with historical and social aspects, this work analyzes black rural producers in southern Brazil. Covering the 23 mesoregions of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, the research aims to highlight information that enables the analysis of agricultural establishments considering a variable little explored in rural studies: race. The erasure of the black presence in the rural south of Brazil is the result of the construction of a colonial imaginary that is still present and does not contribute to the reduction of existing inequalities, especially in family farming. The history and conventional debates about agriculture in the Southern Region are governed by a mostly white vision that does not present rural development alternatives for the recognition and productive inclusion of blacks. Despite land tenure inequality, it is necessary to reflect on the construction of public policies aimed at supporting these rural producers.

Keywords: Agricultural Census. Family Farming. Race.