Agricultural credit and insurance for family farming: the distance between public policies and sustainability

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze how the rural credit and agricultural insurance program
generates stimuli or restrictions that affect the decision-making process of the family farmers
about the adoption of sustainable principles. The theoretical reference of “Three Is” points to
the need to capture ideas, interests and institutions that guide the decision makers of formulators,
operators and beneficiaries of public policies. For this study conducted in the West region
of Santa Catarina, with semi-structured interviews with 37 agricultural establishments and 20
local operators. It is concluded that the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture
and Agricultural Insurance stimulates the adoption of industrial inputs, although there are operational
obstacles in agroecological production. This phenomenon discouraged the adoption
of systems and techniques that meet a broader set of sustainability precepts. That is, such
public policies perpetuate the ideas, interests, and institutions that characterize conservative
modernization, persisting major operational difficulties to institutionalize the ideas and interests
of sustainability.