Motivações e Estratégias de Inserção no Contexto da Cafeicultura Orgânica: Um Estudo no Sul de Minas Gerais

Abstract

Organic production is regarded as a way of contesting the dominant agricultural pattern. At the same time, it came to be regarded as an attractive niche market for many of the producers that have converted their farms to organic activities. But what reasons and strategies did medium- and large-sized traditional farmers from the south of Minas Gerais really develop to fit in the field of organic production? The results indicate that producers highlight the importance of an axis that encompasses personal and family values and histories, as well as of another axis that involves a set of relations of these actors with other society instances. The strategies that they have developed to fit into the organic market involve the combination of production areas of organic coffee with production areas of conventional coffee and the strengthening of trust networks with other actors involved in coffee sales. Keywords : Organic Coffee Crops; Market; Strategies.