Agricultura Familiar e seus desafios logísticos: um estudo de caso na comunidade Boa Esperança no município de Presidente Figueiredo - AM

Abstract

The objective of the work was to analyze the main challenges of family farming in the Boa Esperança community, related to the production of bell peppers and chilli peppers. In this sense, it was also sought to identify the logistic chain of the bell pepper and the chilli pepper from planting to the outflow of the production. The main challenges faced by farmers within this production chain were reported.The theme of this work is an investigation of family farming and its logistic challenges in the Boa Esperança community, located in the rural area of the municipality of Presidente Figueiredo, within the Metropolitan region of Manaus, in the State of Amazonas, where part of the families make a living from family farming and contribute significantly to the local economy. The research locus was delimited from the immersion in the field guided by different methodological approaches to collect data. The Boa Esperança community was selected as the research universe, among six communities in the municipality that were observed and studied preliminarily, being the most appropriate and convenient community for the study. For the delimitation of the population to be investigated, in Boa Esperança, the concept of family farming was used as a category that guaranteed the homogeneity of the population; and as a criterion of legality that legitimates the selected category. In this case, the population consisted of 150 farmers of Boa Esperança officially registered with the Institute of Agricultural Development of the State of Amazonas – IDAM in Portuguese. From this population, a quantitative of 33 farmers who were available and accessible for the study were selected through the Non-Probabilistic sampling, intentional orjudgmental. From this amount was extracted the family unit most suitable for the Case Study, method of qualitative research that guided the investigation.From the triangulation and analysis of the data obtained in the research, through the different methodological approaches, it was possible to make reflections on the subject that resulted in research material both for the Academy, for farmers and for the interested public.It was identified the main obstacles to the outflow of the production faced by the majority of farmers in Boa Esperança, particularly by the family selected as a case study unit, such as the poor road conditions,especially during the rainy season, which significantly reduces farmers' profit margins; and the lack of permanent technicians to accompany farmers in the process of planting, harvesting, packing, storing and organizing the cargo for the correct flow of rural. In general, the results also highlighted, as obstacles, the pests of the plantation, the use of agrochemicals, the lack of schooling of the farmers, as well as their lack of knowledge about public policies directed to this sector.