Women represent 80% of suppliers of products for the Food Acquisition Program

Family farmer Marcia Aparecida de Souza was born and raised in a family of farmers. As an adult, she went to live in the city to study, where she earned a master's degree in agribusiness. Today, she lives in the Rural Nucleus Buriti Vermelho, in Paranoá (DF), and is the manager of the Cooper-Horti Cooperative with 33 members, 30 of whom are men. It produces 4 hectares in the Federal District and 15 hectares in the state of Goiás, with the planting of vegetables, such as lettuce and tomatoes. 

“We women are always breaking barriers. I see women more as property managers. Agriculture is still an environment dominated by men, but the participation of women is growing and this is confirmed every day”, highlights Marcia. 

The farmer is an example of the growth of female participation in family farming. The female presence in the Food Acquisition Program (PAA) modalities reached 4.701 women in 2019, which represents 80% of participation, according to a survey by the National Supply Company (Conab). 

The data are part of the publication Family Farming: Food Acquisition Program - PAA: Results of Conab's Actions in 2019. According to Marisson de Melo Marinho, Conab's superintendent of support for family farming, women's participation has increased over the years. 

“As of 2016, clearer criteria favored cooperatives and family farming associations managed and with the participation of women. These actions allowed the number of women in the PAA to reach 2019% in 80, the highest percentage of women participants,” she stated. He adds that it is “a record that strengthens women's participation in the PAA, the program that trains family farmers and their organizations to access the market”, commented Marinho. 

The incentive for greater female inclusion in the PAA began to be part of public policies aimed at small farmers in 2011, when a minimum participation of 40% of women as supplier beneficiaries was instituted as one of the prioritization criteria in the selection and execution of the program. in the Purchase with Simultaneous Donation modality (CDS) and 30% in the Inventory Formation (CPR-Stock). 

“This participation reveals that the productive capacity of organizations made up of women has been strengthened and minimized the problems of marketing their products, in addition to valuing female labor and guaranteeing their economic autonomy. It should also be noted that the strengthening of women's work in the countryside also implies the consolidation of food security for their families”, points out the study. 

Number of family farmers participating in the PAA, by category and gender, in 2019

Growth 

The study shows an increase in the participation of women in the PAA. In 2011, when a minimum participation of 40% of women as supplier beneficiaries was instituted as one of the prioritization criteria in the selection and execution of the program, only 27% of women participated in the PAA. In 2016, when it consolidated the valuation of its workforce, the increase in income and the guarantee of its socioeconomic insertion, it reached 57%. 

The Conab study points out that the largest share of women's participation, by region in 2019, is concentrated in the Southeast (88%), followed by the Northeast (84%), Midwest (80%), North (67%) and South (65%). Regarding average annual income, the highest remuneration occurred in the Midwest, R$ 7.033,87, and the lowest in the South Region, R$ 6.619,70.

Through the PAA, farmers, cooperatives and associations sell their products to public bodies and the food is destined for people in a situation of food and nutritional insecurity, the socio-assistance network, public equipment for food and nutritional security and the public and philanthropic network of teaching. The resources come from the Ministry of Citizenship.