Políticas públicas e mercados acessados pelas organizações de controle social (OCS): desafios e possibilidades para a agroecologia no sul de Minas Gerais

Abstract

In the year 2022, the agroecological movement of the South and Southwest of Minas Gerais, together with parliamentarians of the legislative power, made official the Pole Agroecological and Organic Production of the South and Southwest of Minas Gerais, the result of the struggle of many years. Within the actions developed within the scope of this Pole, the present research/diagnosis was carried out with the Social Control Organizations (OCSs) in the south of MG. These are nine organizations of family farmers who produce organic food and can sell directly to consumers. The objective of this work was to understand the markets and public policies linked to agroecology accessed by the OCSs, as well as to understand and reflect on the profile of these organizations. For this, bibliographical research was carried out, which consisted of the study of texts such as articles, books, dissertations and theses, documental analyzes that consisted of the analysis of raw data from governmental and non-governmental organizations through websites and documents, and finally, ten interviews were carried out. semi-structured with twelve farmers from OCSs and a technician who supports an OCS. The main results achieved were that Institutional Markets are the most accessed, followed by Delivery, Fair and Inside the Property markets. It was possible to observe that the farmers of the OCSs feel that their products are valued through better prices in these markets and also through close relationships with consumers. With regard to public policies, it was possible to observe that the National School Feeding Program is the main policy accessed by organizations, being an important source of income for families. There are several aspects to be improved, mainly with the municipal executive power, since the interviews pointed out that there are problems in the management of this program by the city hall with the non-fulfillment of the contract, the non-payment for the food as organic and the delay in payments. The Food Acquisition Program was rarely accessed, as there was not enough funding to purchase food. The rural credit program is also little accessed, but in this case it is due to the low training of professionals to build organic and agroecological agriculture projects and the lack of interest of the financing banks in collaborating. Finally, it was possible to observe that the OCSs in the south of Minas Gerais have a variable profile, with one group migrating to the Participatory Guarantee System (SPG) during the course of the research, thus accessing new markets, and two OCSs disbanding. The Agroecological Pole of the South and Southwest of Minas has an important role in this context, as it is essential to strengthen these and new organizations to articulate and mobilize struggles for government support for their production and commercialization, thus contributing to the sustainable development of farming families.