Public policies for family agriculture: analysis of pronaf in rural communities in balsas/ma

This study sought to contribute to the understanding of the theme of specific public policies for family farming, as is the case of the National Program for Strengthening Family Farming - Pronaf. It aimed to analyze the relationship between the activities developed by family farmers, who accessed the program, between the years 2013 and 2017, the financing lines and the debt ratio in the rural communities of Balsas / MA. A qualitative and quantitative approach was used, encompassing the descriptive-exploratory method, through document analysis and participant observation. It is observed that, even with the support of specific public policies, the segment remains stagnant, continuing in the production of basic foods for self-consumption and low participation in integrated markets, in increasingly adverse conditions, both due to the unbridled advance of agribusiness, as well as the lack organization of the segment and also due to the low effectiveness of institutional support. It was found that there is a default of Pronaf credits in the agricultural communities, and that this occurs for several reasons, among them the lack of knowledge of resource management, in addition to the low level of education of the producers.