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Family farmers and major retail chains in the Brazilian organic sector: Assessing new development pathways. A case study in a peri-urban district of São Paulo

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Agricultores familiares e grandes redes varejistas do setor orgânico brasileiro: avaliando novos caminhos de desenvolvimento. Um estudo de caso em um bairro periurbano de São Paulo


ABSTRACT

The expansion of the organic sector in Brazil is seen as a leverage for the social emancipation of the small family farmers. Next to the traditional alternatives circuits of organic food and farming, new powerful capitalistic actors, such as supermarket chains, are rapidly entering the Brazilian organic arena. Can family farming benefit from the development of these ‘‘conventional’’ commercialisation circuits in the organic sector? Research undertaken in 2007, in a green belt rural community of Sa˜o Paulo, shows how family farmers may have benefited from the implication of large retail chains in the organic sector and how an economically and ecologically outstanding agriculture may arise from these circumstances. However, we highlight the crucial role played by social regulation: only strong solidarity between farmers and the implication of technicians, militants and researchers in the process made it possible to counter the negative effects of the liberal logic governing the development of organic farming via the major retailers. Still, as tougher competition is expected on the regional organic market, the development of short supply chains involving ‘‘committed’’ consumers and the broader integration of the local farmers in networks of organic militancy appear crucial. It would guarantee a continuous enhancement of the local human and social capital, reinforce an emerging process of internal conversion and allow for a stronger social regulation of the future local development pattern.

Keywords: Family farming, Supermarkets chains, Organic horticulture, Agro-ecology, Social development, Peri-urban, São Paulo (Brazil)

RESUMO

A expansão do setor orgânico no Brasil é vista como uma alavanca para a emancipação social dos pequenos agricultores familiares. Ao lado dos circuitos alternativos tradicionais de alimentos e agricultura orgânica, novos atores capitalistas poderosos, como as redes de supermercados, estão rapidamente entrando no cenário orgânico brasileiro. 
A agricultura familiar pode se beneficiar do desenvolvimento desses circuitos de comercialização “convencionais” no setor orgânico? Pesquisa realizada em 2007, em uma comunidade rural do cinturão verde de São Paulo, mostra como os agricultores familiares podem ter se beneficiado da participação de grandes redes varejistas no setor orgânico e como uma agricultura econômica e ecologicamente diferenciada pode surgir dessas circunstâncias. No entanto, destacamos o papel crucial desempenhado pela regulação social: somente uma forte solidariedade entre agricultores e a participação de técnicos, militantes e pesquisadores no processo tornaram possível combater os efeitos negativos da lógica liberal que rege o desenvolvimento da agricultura orgânica por meio dos grandes varejistas. Ainda assim, como se espera uma competição mais acirrada no mercado orgânico regional, o desenvolvimento de cadeias de suprimentos curtas envolvendo consumidores “comprometidos” e a integração mais ampla dos agricultores locais em redes de militância orgânica parecem cruciais. Isso garantiria um aprimoramento contínuo do capital humano e social local, reforçaria um processo emergente de conversão interna e permitiria uma regulação social mais forte do futuro padrão de desenvolvimento local.

Palavras-chave: Family farming, Supermarkets chains, Organic horticulture, Agro-ecology, Social development, Peri-urban, São Paulo (Brazil)

Introduction

To favour an environmentally friendly and socially equitable agriculture became an issue of great importance both in the Northern and Southern countries. Organic farming, in this respect, gives cause for hope. Bodies such as the FAO or the IFAD (El-Hage Scialabba, 2007, IFAD, 2002) see in the booming organic movement in the countries of the South a means of reconciling the development of small-scale agriculture, the revitalisation of rural communities and environmental protection. This is also the point of view of the Brazilian government which passed a law in 20031 with the aim of favouring all forms of ecological agriculture, whether benefiting or not from the organic certification (Bellon and Abreu, 2006). In Brazil, the promotion of these agro-ecological alternatives aims to provide new perspectives to part of the 13 million working in family agriculture, who until recently did not widely benefit from the agricultural and rural development policies (Cabello-Norder and Bergamasco, 2001, Ferreira and Zannoni, 2001).

Many studies carried out in developed countries (Europe, North America, Australia) demonstrate the social and environmental benefits associated with organic farming: the preservation of the environment and cultural landscapes (Mansvelt et al., 1998, Hansen et al., 2001, Lotter, 2003), the growth and stabilisation of farmers’ income (Edwards-Jones and Howells, 2001, Rigby and Cáceres, 2001, Nieberg and Offermann, 2002) and positive externalities on the rest of the rural economy through, notably, organic farming’s potential for integration into other sectors of activities in rural areas (tourism, environmental preservation activities) (Knickel and Renting, 2000, Pugliese, 2001, Darnhofer, 2005). Some authors also note that this sector enables a better distribution of power between the actors involved in the production–distribution chains, that it favours localised processes of innovation largely involving the farmers and enables these to form new relations with consumers, thus entailing a whole set of phenomena contributing positively to their emancipation (Pugliese, 2001, Morgan and Murdoch, 2000).

However, while these positive aspects are widely highlighted when they arise from “alternative” practices of exchange and economic and social development, they remain controversial when organic farming is developed in more “conventional” circuits involving actors with strong financial capital2 (Hall and Mogyorody, 2001, Guthman, 2004, Smith and Marsden, 2004; De Wit and Verhoog, 2007). Indeed, this phenomenon poses the question of founding “ecological” principles being led astray as well as that of the reproduction of negative social effects associated with the Green Revolution (marginalisation, land concentration, rural exodus). Banks and Marsden (2001) and Guthman (2004) argue for example that the more the large retail chains and agro-business in general get involved in this sector, the less small-scale agriculture and local development will benefit. Smith and Marsden (2004), for their part, show how, in the United Kingdom, the big retailers use their economic dominance over the farmers in the organic sector as elsewhere to manipulate prices, influence contracts to their advantage and transform the rules of the game as the sector gradually evolves. For these authors, organic farming will only continue to demonstrate beneficial effects socially and environmentally if real regulations involving the State, the major retailers, the consumers and the farmers are put in place.

In Brazil, the organic sector has undergone broad penetration by actors with strong financial capital in recent years, as is notably illustrated by a considerable development of long supply chains. Since the end of the 90s, the export sector and, in the internal market, the major retail sector have in fact won out against the short supply chains and the militant forms of market exchange3 which dominated up to then (Guivant, 2003). While this phenomenon was to a large extent behind the strong growth in the sector, it also raises major concerns (Carvalho, 2000, Lima and Pinheiro, 2001, Almeida, 2002, Brandenbourg, 2002, Andion and Serva, 2004). What will be the consequences of increased links between family farmers, large supermarkets and other powerful retailers and food processing companies operating on the internal and export markets?

Although these concerns are shared by a large community of researchers, various civil society associations and certain governmental development bodies, they have not given rise to in-depth studies of the phenomenon. Thus we propose here to submit the results of research undertaken in 2007, in a “rural neighbourhood” (Veravá) of a São Paulo green belt’s district (Ibiuná). In this area, where the local economy still relies heavily on agriculture, 90% of the farmers (50 of the 60 farming families) are organic producers, specialized in horticultural production. Organic farming began there in 1995 and developed very quickly due to close ties with the major retailers.

Our research implied a full-time immersion in the community, for four month. Data were collected through informal discussions with farmers and non-farmers, daily observations of people activity and through more formal surveys using semi-structured – recorded – interviews with farmers (25), on-farm labourers (4) and agronomists from private and public extension services (5). In-depth surveys were conducted with 16 of the 25 initially interviewed farmers, involving repeated visits and, for five of them, participant observations as we worked on their farm from three to five days. Meanwhile, we took part in farmers’ associations meetings (10) and in several community meetings (4) organised by activists intending to mobilize community members on territorial development matters. Finally, we met various actors involved in the State organic sector – including two cooperative commercials, two certification bodies’ executives and many researchers.

In this article, we will first of all rapidly retrace the history of organic farming in Brazil and highlight the actual major role played by the major retailers in this sector. In the second part, we develop our case study to demonstrate the complexity of the dynamics at work in the development of organic farming within this rural neighbourhood. The third and last part will consist in a more thematic analysis of this case study, allowing a discussion on both future local challenges and broader issues regarding organic farming development in Brazil.

Section snippets

From the influence of activists to the institutionalisation of organic farming

The principles of organic farming were introduced into Brazil at the beginning of the 70s, centred on different currents of agro-ecological thought, such as biodynamics, permaculture, or natural agriculture. Up to the mid-90s, this agriculture underwent limited expansion (Darolt, 2002). As part of a social project, the Brazilian organic movement of the 80s promoted an “alternative” agriculture intended to lift small-scale farming out of its economic slump. This first phase of expansion for the

Presentation of the neighbourhood and its history

The district of Ibiuná is located on the west-border of the Metropolitan region of São Paulo (cf. Fig. 1), which constitutes the main economic pole (industry, services, finances) and the largest consumer market of Brazil. The district counts 64,160 inhabitants, of whom 43,000 live in the rural zone. With nearly 1300 agricultural establishments listed in 2003, agriculture generates only 27% of Ibiuná’s GDP, whereas services and industry represent respectively 40% and 26% of this last (IBGE, 2003

Discussion

Organic agriculture came about in Veravá at the beginning of the 90s in a local context of serious economic crisis. Promoted by activists in a perspective of social renovation, the organic farming project notably sought to advance the case of an alternative, more autonomous, agriculture and to construct new spaces of exchange between farmers, consumers, technicians, researchers and activists. Yet, the economic dimension quickly took over from the movement for social renewal. The local community 

Conclusion

In this study we have analysed social, economical and agronomical aspects of a collective transition towards organic farming involving a rural community, major retail networks and the intermediaries responsible for the logistics of the sector. Our aim here was to contribute to the knowledge of a phenomenon which remain little studied in Brazil, that of the impact on small-scale agriculture of the arrival of major retailers and, more generally, of an array of actors with strong financial

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the French foreign affair ministry (Egide Program) who funded this research, the EMBRAPA Meio ambiente (Campinas, Brazil), the INRA-Ecodev (France) and the CEDRUS (Ibiuná, Brazil) for their technical and human support as much as the organic farmers of Veravá for their participation in this work. Finally, the author wishes to thank the three anonymous reviewers who helped with their comments to improve this article.

References (56)

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