Avaliação de uma política pública: o caso do Biodiesel do Ceará

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes a public policy, the Program of Biodiesel in the state of Ceará, which addresses a class of rural workers from the semi-arid Northeast region of Brazil, and which has traditionally been excluded from public policies; and family agriculture, which has fought to establish its place in the country, and has been characterized by poverty and social exclusion, where land, jobs and income generation are key components. Family agriculture in Brazil has been negatively impacted by poor public policies, a negative economic environment, and difficulties in accessing new markets and technical assistance. In this scenario, the biodiesel program comes not only to bring change in family agriculture, but also to diversify the state’s energy matrix and to promote the production of an environmentally friendly fuel in the state of Ceará, in place of a fossil fuel (oil). The production of oilseeds in family farms makes biodiesel an important element for the eradication of poverty in the country, by the possibility of reaching a large number of people and generating jobs and income. An evaluation of current public policies constitutes an essential step to the understanding of the feasibility and effectiveness of government programs and projects. Moreover, an evaluation makes it possible to analyze the performance of these projects, and whether it is necessary to adjust their goals and activities. The study covers nine major cities producers of castor oil in the State of Ceará: Boa Viagem, Canindé, Itatira, Monsenhor Tabosa, Quixadá, Quixeramobim and Pedra Branca, in the macro-region of the Sertão Central; and Quiterianópolis and Tauá, in the region of the Sertão dos Inhamuns. In conducting the evaluation, it was necessary to select methodological tools for assessing government programs based on characteristics of various methods used by several authors for measuring effectiveness and efficiency. These tools will allow us to interpret and analyze the development and implementation of public policies, especially the program of biodiesel in the state of Ceará, which will reveal its effectiveness for the proposed objectives in the research.