Agroindústrias familiares: estratégias de mercado, gestão e sustentabilidade no norte gaúcho

Abstract

Agribusiness, mainly family ones, have the potential to transform raw material into food, whether of animal or vegetable origin, and can contribute to several issues socioeconomic, such as the permanence of the farmer in the field, income generation, and family succession. The protagonism that family farming has taken on, in the agribusiness scenario, is directly related to the evolution of rural entrepreneurship, the empowerment and the appropriation of information by family farmers. The objective of this work is to analyze and understand the perceptions of the dimensions of sustainability adopted by farmers in the management and conduction of new markets for agribusiness, in the COREDE region, North of Rio Grande do Sul. The case study was accomplished through the application of a standardized questionnaire for farmers, who perform the management of the rural family agribusiness of COREDE. The work generated qualitative and quantitative dice through exploratory / descriptive and bibliographic research. From this study, it was concluded that the management of the agribusiness is accomplished informally with some formal initiatives, mainly in the financial part. Farmers recognize that to accomplish the management is fundamental, principally to make more assertive decisions, both in production and in marketing; however, they have difficulties to accomplish it, especially due to the lack of time available for this activity. When dealing of commercialization, the farmers admit that their products have artisanal characteristics and colonial processes, but that they can further explore the available marketing channels, and diversify strategies for customer service. As for environmental sustainability, the agribusiness have a concern for the environment, thinking about complying with environmental legislation, carrying out social actions and generating positive economic results; nevertheless, they have scattered perceptions about the issue. These results indicate that, both in exploratory / descriptive and in bibliographic research, the management is an important tool for the sustainability of the development. Management based on formal data can contribute to agribusiness to develop it potential even further, expanding the markets, adjusting the products to the needs of consumers, and making a profit through higher productivity with low costs.