Programa nacional de fortalecimento da agricultura familiar: um estudo sobre seus custos e benefícios

Abstract

The paper evaluates, in terms of costs and benefits, the results reached for the Brazilian Program to Strengthen Family Farming (Pronaf), within the period since its creation in 1995 up to 2004. For that, initially it describes the evolution of its structure and functioning. More ahead, regarding the cost question of the program, the paper works to measure them. It inquiries the total cost for operating the Pronaf taking into account not only the directly related expenditures of the government, but also the social opportunity cost measured by the Dependence Subsidies Indices (DSI). The benefits of the Pronaf are evaluated in two aspects: the reach of the program and its impact on income and production. The reach is evaluated in comparative terms with Asian financial institutions and the impact evaluation is made by identification, using “pair made” criteria, of groups of comparison, contends each one defined products of family farming on the scope of the states. Between the groups, the value and the volume of the production are compared, as well as the evolution of the productivity. After that, the paper’s results of the impact analysis are compared with others recent studies. The conclusion is that the Pronaf is strongly subsidized, but since 2001 it observes systematic fall in the subsidies share as percentage of the granted resources. Notwithstanding the program comes benefiting a significant number of family producers. As regarding the impact on income, production and productivity, only in the last one the program has presented some result.