The Problem
The context
Brazil has about 1.5 million socially excluded small farmers that are part of the MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, usually shortened to Movimento Sem Terra) social movement. MST ("Landless Workers' Movement") promotes activism on social issues like unequal income distribution. LT agricultural communities are among the poorest and most vulnerable segments of Brazilian society; thus, any increase in their available income would make a significant difference in their living standards. In response to the social problem of huge number of vulnerable small farmers, Brazilian authorities developed programs to encourage family farming (PAA & PNAE), by giving them priority to supply food products to public schools and institutions.
However, farmers face a challenge in understanding how to distribute their products to public schools and public institutions. Farmers face a challenge in identifying which areas and contracts to bid for, leading to a reduced participation of vulnerable farmers to the governmental programs specifically designed to support them.
The main aim of the research project is therefore to enable vulnerable farmers to make better use of PAA & PNAE that give them priority in supplying their products in public institutions. Understanding how they can better organise distribution can enable farmers to supply more of their products through these initiatives that secure their income by guaranteeing product sale at fair prices, allowing them to improve their living standard. This also reduces the current risk of not being able to sell all their products, reducing their income uncertainty, or being subject to price fluctuations and exploitation when selling their products, due to lack of bargaining power. In addition, PAA & PNAE do not require any upfront investment, such as marketing, management and distribution vehicles, which is a major challenge for them in conventional sales.
The project aim is aligned with the UN sustainable development goals 'No Poverty', 'Reduced Inequalities' & 'Decent Work and Economic Growth'.
Canudos settlement
Canudos settlement is a small farmer village located in the state of Goiás, located south-west to the state capital of Goiânia. The settlement is home to 320 families that are mostly involved in agricultural activities and belong to the lowest income segment. Having acquired the lands in the early 2000s, the families are now in a transition stage moving from traditional subsistence agriculture to the commercialisation of agricultural products, with food surplus being sold at fairs in the surrounding area. The families are therefore looking for opportunities to increase the earning income from their activities by finding alternative distribution networks, such as the participation to the PAA & PNAE programs, which can ultimately provide an upgrade to their living conditions.
Distribution of agricultural products through PAA & PNAE initiatives
The production and operations management literature focuses on distribution and production flow problems for large-scale industrial or agricultural producers. The specificities of the particular problem environment for small rural farmers in a developing country, especially with respect to the set of problem constraints, make this a unique and complex problem that demands customised solutions.
Currently farmers use their private vehicles for distribution without any standardized planning, leading to reduced efficiency, lost opportunity for product supply, unsold products, high delivery cost and sensory deterioration of products. This approach also prevents them to participate to governmental programs PAA and PNAE on a regular basis, exposing them to an increased market risk and income uncertainty, due to their low bargaining power. Logistical solutions that could support small family farms participate in the participation to PAA and PNAE programs to increase their income and living standards are timely and of critical importance.
The main aim of the research project is therefore to enable vulnerable farmers to make better use of PAA & PNAE that give them priority in supplying their products in public institutions. The project will help farmers to better organise their distribution, identifying ways to gain access to more school supply areas while reducing distribution cost and maintaining product quality. This will lead to an increased share of their products being sold through the governmental initiatives at fair prices, securing part of their income in a risk-free market. This will allow farmers to improve their living standard and will provide a benefit to the wider local community where they reside, having have a direct impact on the economic development of the rural areas currently under pressure due to the high concentration of poor farmer families.