A inserção da agricultura familiar do semiárido mineiro no arranjo produtivo da cadeia regional de produção de agrocombustível: a experiência da Cooperativa Agroextrativista Grande Sertão

Abstract

The biofuels are gaining legitimacy being presented by the media and governments of several countries, especially of Brazil, as part of a solution of serious crises that concern the humanity since the beginning of the XXI century. Through the National Program for Production and Use of Biodiesel - PNPB, the Brazilian government sought to integrate the units of family farm and biodiesel production arrangements giving the program a character of promoter of social inclusion. However, the participation of family farm in the supply of the emerging demand for bioenergy in the country raised an important and consistent set of reflections on how such participation has been constituted. This study aims to analyze the implantation of family farm in the semi-arid of Minas Gerais state in the productive arrangements of agroenergy taking as empirical reference the experience of the Agroextractivist Cooperative Great Wilderness (CGS). The organization has a cooperation project fostered by Petrobras and it has been seeking to promote, linked to other productive chains, agroenergy production under the option of integration between energy crops and foods taking as reference agroecological transition practices. From the viewpoint of the international debate on biofuels it was found that policies to encourage the production of "clean energy" aligns symmetrically with the presuppositions of ecological modernization of capitalism and a dominant notion of sustainable development, which makes invisible different socio-environmental conflicts that have strained with the emergence of productive expansion of new energy. In Brazil, PNPB has suffered strong influence from agribusiness corporations of agro-energy sector. The paradox is revealed in the gradual inclusion of more established producers in the Program by giving less space for "social inclusion". Thus, the participation of farmers of smaller resources remains as a "big target" far from being beat. For now, the family farmers obligatorily "inserted" are nothing more than a "social shield" of the companies, to guarantee a profitable business. In front of the weakened condition of family farm in PNPB, CGS has the challenge of presenting a counterpoint. This has been built on strategic projects parallel to the organization performance in the Program.