Atuação da ater nos sistemas agroalimentares da agricultura familiar no território do sisal do Estado da Bahia

Abstract

In the semiarid of the Northeast Region of Brazil, three major problems continue to challenge rural populations: I. persistent water scarcity; II. poverty; and III. climate change. In this sense, public policies aimed at rural areas, especially family farming, have been oriented, at least in theory, towards strengthening the strategies for reproducing the livelihoods of many families in the northeastern hinterland. A good part of this generation of public policies emerges in the first decade of the twenty-first century and, from this perspective, Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (ATER) becomes essential to family-based agriculture that lives in territories marginalized by poverty, low human development indicators and hunger. As of 2015, in the state of Bahia, a new political-institutional arrangement of ATER emerged, with a view to the creation of the Bahia Superintendence of Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (BAHIATER), which emerged with the objective of contributing to the agri-food dynamics of family farming in the territories of Bahia from the implementation of an outsourced ATER model based on principles of sustainable rural development. Thus, the general objective of this thesis is to analyze how ATER's performance, carried out through public calls, impacts on the agri-food systems of family farming in the Sisal Territory in the state of Bahia. In order to achieve this objective, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten ATER agents and 30 family farmers in the Sisal Territory. The results point to the occurrence of advances in the four dimensions observed (social, productive, economic and environmental), although numerous challenges prevail from the elaboration and execution of services to the realities faced by family farming, especially regarding drought. In this way, farmers continue to be conditioned by public policies, considering the need to solve the most urgent demands of families. In summary, the advances identified demonstrate that ATER entities stimulate family farming to adapt movements to build resilience, especially through the way family farmers face adverse realities through knowledge mediated by ATER.