PRODUCTION AND COMMERCIALIZATION BY FAMILY FARMERS SETTLED IN THE BRAZILIAN FEDERAL DISTRICT: THE IMPORTANCE OF SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS FOR IMPROVING FARMERS’ LIVELIHOODS

SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS AND FARMERS’ LIVELIHOODS IN BRASILIA

Abstract

Creating marketing opportunities as a means to improve livelihoods is a challenge to be faced by family farmers, particularly by land reform settlers in Brazil. This study seeks to assess whether different productive and commercial profiles imply changes in the levels of natural, financial, human and social capital of settled farmers in the Federal District. The survey involved 156 settlers from 11 rural settlements. Behaviors related to production and commercialization were used as criteria for cluster analysis. The four identified clusters of farmers were compared based on their livelihood capitals using the Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test. The results reveal that, although settled farmers do not access the most significant marketing channels in terms of volume sold (retail chains and the Ceasa), alternative channels such as fairs, institutional markets and communities that support agriculture (CSA) have provided settlers with an opportunity to improve of their livelihoods. These findings reveal the importance of short food supply chains for the development of land reform settlements in Brazil.