Acesso à informação por agricultores assistidos pela EMATER/RS - ASCAR e sua influência na tomada de decisões

Abstract

The central theme of the research, through the Master's Program in Development and Public Policies, developed takes into account the most popular media accessed by family farmers assisted by Emater/RS-Ascar in the northwest frontier of RS and its influence on the decisions of family farmers on properties, especially, about the access to public policies. Although the media are part of the regional community daily life, there are few initiatives for study, reflection, and intervention in relation to how rural residents access information, mainly, concerning the influence of transmitted information by local media on individual and collective decisions. Thus, the central objective of the research, whose results are presented in this thesis, was to understand through which means the family farmers, assisted by Emater/RS-Ascar in the northwest of RS, access information that influences their decisions in rural properties. Also analyzed were the media with the highest audience among the public assisted by Emater/RS-Ascar; the interference of social markers, such as “gender”, “age group”, “schooling level”, and “family income” when choosing the most popular media; and inferences were made on the relationship between access to information and access to public policies focused on family farming and carried out by Emater/RS-Ascar. Therefore, quantitative methods were used, using closed questionnaires applied to family farmers, and qualitative questionnaires, with semi-structured interviews with the target audience of this research. The results reaffirm the tradition and the popularity of certain media, with an emphasis on the radio, and the rise of others, such as the Internet. The discussion of their influence occurs transversely to the key concepts of communication, rural extension, and development. The study also revealed the importance of interpersonal relationships, especially with technicians, for access to technical information and for decision-making.