O Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos PAA no município de Lagoa Seca PB: análise das transformações vivenciadas na Agricultura Familiar

Abstract

Nine years before its creation, it is time the effects of the Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (PAA) were analyzed as part of the public policies implemented by the Brazilian government, complementary to PRONAF and integrated to the actions of Fome Zero. Through mechanism to trade with institutional market without public bidding, the program aims at incentivizing family agriculture, at fomenting rural development and at promoting the national food security. The impacts of this policy for the beneficiaries/consumers can be seen in various empirical researches, revealing the legitimacy of the program, mainly, for school kids whose meals are closer to local eating habits. This fact promotes food and nutritional securities. However, there is a need for the assessment of the impacts of this mechanism of institutional purchase from family farmers, who produce and supply the items, and, consequently, are the first beneficiaries of the PAA. Therefore, this research aimed at evaluating the transformations experienced in the productive processes and in the living conditions of family farmers directly benefited by the Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos, as well as the dynamics of the broader family agriculture in the Municipality of Lagoa Seca which can be associated to the execution of the program observing how it differentiate them. In order to achieve these objectives, documents and secondary data on the implementation of the program in Lagoa Seca along with field research with farmers whether beneficiated or not were carried out. In a universe of 1.592 family households (IBGE, 2006), the program directly benefited 35 until 2011, represented by four associations. The research reveals that the PAA is legitimate among fostering institutions and farmers. However, the way it is executed allows some imperfections to emerge. Farmers complain about the following issues: the delay to start the program; the delay to pay, unjust quote, and so on. They expect the program to be transformed in a state policy rather than a public policy as it currently is and that ammendments in its execution are made.