AVALIAÇÃO DO PROGRAMA DE AQUISIÇÃO DE ALIMENTOS (PAA) NO FORTALECIMENTO DA AGRICULTURA FAMILIAR EM PONTA GROSSA - PR

Abstract

The PAA - Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (Food Acquisition Program), as a public policy, aims to foster family farming through the production of food and its distribution in the necessary quantity, quality and regularity to populations exposed to malnutrition and food insecurity. This work seeks to investigate the effectiveness of the PAA in light of its role as the first program of public acquisition destined exclusively to family farming, having at its core the goal of promoting income generation to small farmers through the commercialization of their products. This study is done through an analysis of the reasons given by farmers for their adherence, permanence and/or withdrawal from the PAA, in order to verify if the program is capable of triggering the development of family farming. A case study was carried out in the Associação de Agricultura Ecológica Familiar Conchas Velhas (Conchas Velhas Association for Ecological Family Farming), in the vicinity of Ponta Grossa, Paraná, through the implementation of semi-structured interviews and participatory rural appraisal - PRA tools (swot analysis, prioritization matrix) to farmers. The empirical research highlights the importance of public policies regarding family farming, with the clear impact of the PAA which, according to the members of the Associação de Agricultura Ecológica Familiar Conchas Velhas, promoted the strengthening of family farming with respect to income, expansion, diversification of production and access to markets.