Distribuição de produtos provenientes da agricultura familiar: um estudo exploratório da produção de hortaliças

In the last few decades, the discussion about small holders agriculture has been emphasized due to debates on sustainable development, job and income increase, food security and local development. Due to the fact of small farmers group being heterogeneous, either from the economic, social or cultural point of view, this research is focused on small-holder vegetable producers located in the cities of São Carlos and Araraquara. The main objective is to understand the distributive arrangement used by the small-holder vegetable producers and their main problems. For the development of the research, a multi case study was used, based on primary and secondary data. The primary data were obtained through a half-structuralized questionnaire applied to the producers and some specialists in the area. The interviews were applied in loco by researchers and the period data collection was between September and December 2002. Among the results, a reduction in the number of intermediary agents of the vegetal distribution could be identified. In some cases, the production of vegetables was distributed directly by the producers to final and enterprise consumers.