Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (PAA): influências sobre o trabalho das mulheres agricultoras do Trevo de Belterra, Estado do Pará

Abstract

This research analyzes the influence that the Family Farming Food Acquisition Program has on the work done by women farmers of the Trevo de Belterra Community, Municipality of Belterra, Micro-region of Santarém, the Integration Region Lower Amazon, Pará, Brazil. It is a case study from the qualitative approach, in which the main methodological procedures used were: participant observation and semi-structured interview. The theoretical framework that embodied the research draws on the following thematic categories: peasants, productive work of female farmers and public policies for rural areas. The key findings show that: i) the Municipal PAA of Santarém is the result of an articulation between social actors (family farmers and the Unions of Rural Workers of Santarém, Belterra and Mojuí dos Campos) and government institutions, with emphasis for Santarém City Hall, which produced an innovative institutional and spatial arrangement to constitute a geographical area for the implementation of Santarém’s Municipal PAA, which also encompasses the municipalities of Belterra and Mojuí dos Campos; ii) the PAA influence on the work of female farmers are more expressive regarding the production practices and intensity of work, since no changes with regard to working hours was observed; iii) participation in PAA allowed not only a strengthening of economic empowerment of women farmers, but also decision-making autonomy, in which these women are gradually earning active voice and their suggestions included; iv) participation in the PAA encourages the involvement of women farmers associations, cooperatives and union membership; it is a way of them having contact with the information linked to family farming.