Capital social e as associações de agricultura familiar em Paudalho, Pernambuco

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation work is to study the social, economic and infrastructural barriers of Small Farmers Associations of Engenho Velho II and Engenho Sitio I, located in the municipality of Paudalho, with poor social capital built in these Communities over the years. Social capital is a theme broadly discussed and that, since the 1980s, has become a kind of panacea for all social problems. Thinking about it, it was decided to extract from James Coleman and Robert Putnam’s writings, authors of great importance on the issue of social capital, the main variables that these authors considered important for identifying social capital in rural communities. A questionnaire was designed, covering all important variables, and applied in the two communities, that is, seven interviews in Engenho Velho II and 20 in Engenho Sitio I. For the analysis of results of interviews, besides answers of the questionnaires, one used field work and comparative methods, thus getting good support to analyse indicators of trust and reciprocity, knowledge, social norms and sanctions, networks and civic and community engagement. It was observed that both communities are involved in social, economic and infrastructural barriers what restricts the formation of social capital for promoting the local development. In view of these restrictions, it is possible to foresee that the broad development in terms of roads, good transportation, better schools and health services are postponed. Housing and family development are also suffering the consequences of this lack of capital formation in terms of poor education, lack of good agricultural production, low income profiles and low employment opportunities. Besides this, results of interviews showed that families are skeptful of public help that could come to solve these problems as those from the Municipality and public programmes of development. These low profiles of social capital show the difficulties that affect families and members of these communities and postpone the basic social, economic and infrastructural resources necessary to promote the sustainable development of these communities.