Family farmers as agents of resilience in the western region of Santa Catarina (Brazil)

Abstract

This article analyses how the resilience of family farmers has contributed to the development of the western region of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Despite having largest agro-industrial complex in Latin America, the region has faced cyclical crisis and challenges in recent decades. In fact, the quality of life of the rural population – the region is the main strongholds of family farming in Brazil - has not improved. Rural exodus, an aging population and the impairment of environmental quality are some of the evidences that point to the limits of the adopted agribusiness model. Family farmers and their organizations have responded to this socioeconomic environment of uncertainty with adaptive strategies based on local resilience, such as pluriactivity, productive diversification, transformation of raw materials in the property and production for own consumption. These strategies have served not only for the social reproduction of the group but also have contributed to a renewed regional dynamism.