O impacto do PRONAF Sustentável sobre a sustentabilidade agrícola da agricultura familiar: o caso da microrregião do Vale do Médio Curu no Estado do Ceará

Abstract

The agriculture over the years has been instrumental in developing countries. Nevertheless, the numerous functions that the activity offers in offering food, fiber, biofuel the most frequent criticisms concern the threat to the sustainability of natural resources, land and water. However, the sustainable management of these resources has been the answer to all these questions. Rural credit takes pride of place, as this is the instrument that allows to equip farmers in productive capital, to develop agricultural business. The National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture – PRONAF Sustainable is the only policy to this public, and about to complete his majority, still has not convinced scholars of his real contribution. The present study aims to measure the indices agricultural sustainability of family farmers through the construction the index of Property Management; estimating impacts of Sustainable PRONAF over agricultural sustainability and annual agricultural revenue of these farmers through the model Propensity Score Matching. The data used are of primary origin, obtained by the application of 60 semi-structured questionnaires to 125 beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the Program, a total of 185 questionnaires in the municipalities of São Luís do Curu and Pentecoste, situated in the micro region Valley Middle Curu state Ceará. The results demonstrate that the Property Management Index (IGP) of the beneficiaries of the Program representative of agricultural sustainability in its three dimensions: environmental, economic and social is unequivocally superior to the IGP not beneficiaries. The variables that most influenced the inclusion of non-beneficiaries in the Program are: schooling, water available on the property, housing conditions, harvested area, working time on the property and number of rooms. The Sustainable PRONAF shows positive effects on the Index of Economic Management for the Social Management Index, for Index Management of Property and to the Annual Agricultural Revenue beneficiaries. Given the relevance and comprehensiveness of Sustainable PRONAF, it is suggested to conduct further studies to the state of Ceará and the Northeast. Moreover, in order to complement the overall results of the evaluation, it is recommended extending the studies to other credit modalities and lines that make up the Program.