Aspectos relativos ao processo sucessório em propriedades rurais familiares no Oeste Catarinense

Abstract

Family farms are extremely important to food production, job creation and income in the West region of Santa Catarina. In this region, rural exodus imposes a number of challenges to local economies, weakened by the migration of young people and, consequently, the deterioration of family farm sustaintability. A direct consequence of such migration is rural population aging, which tends to reduce investments in the farmstead. Moreover, there is the masculinization of the rural youth, as young women leave the countryside sooner and in greater proportions than boys do. Altogether, these factors contribute to rural demographic depletion, which implies a generalized lack of successors in family farms. The objective of this work is to explore succession driving factors in family farms in Chapecó. The unit of analysis were family farmers affiliated to the Family Farm Union (Sintraf). We adopted an exploratory approach based on interviews to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Twenty family farms were selected with the support of Sintraf. 10 are very likely to have a successor and 10 are very unlikely to have a successor. Our results indicate that the motivations for the migration of young people may be in the farm or in opportunities that emerge outside the rural environment. The succession process takes into account a variety of factors, such as a) Economic: agricultural income, as well as farm size and access to public policies (PAA and PNAE). b) Production system: painfulness is negative, therefore, better endowed farms with capital to invest in infrastructure and innovation are more attractive to rural youth. c) Social: lack of entertainment and distance from universities favor migration. Most of the young people who left the countryside were motivated by non-agricultural work opportunities and education. In the family context, the absence of dialogue between parents and their children, as well as little if no participation of new generations in the decision-making process also proved to be a hurdle to family succession. d) Gender issues: there is a clear preference for sons instead of daughters in the management of agricultural activities, as well as in an eventual succession processes. In general, it means that parents tend to encourage daughters to leave the farm more frequently