Atores sociais, agricultura familiar e desenvolvimento territorial: uma análise do Programa Nacional de Produção e Uso de Biodiesel.

Abstract

Since 2004, the National Program for the Production and Use of Biodiesel (PNPB) is a public policy whose objective is to use vegetal oils, animal fats and other fatty materials for energy purposes, more specifically through biodiesel that is a renewable agrofuel similar to diesel oil. Its implementation is justified mainly by the fact that the country needs to reduce the diesel dependency and improve the quality of this fuel with regard to the emission of greenhouse gases. Even more, there is the possibility of generating employment and income for family farming, based on production of raw materials for obtaining agrofuel. To do this and in addition to the compulsory market for biodiesel, policy instruments and mechanisms were created with the objective of integrating family farmers to biodiesel producers. However, and after six years of having launched the program, there are still problems that do not allow the PNPB to achieve the social goals established for the family farming. The main objective of this thesis is to analyze the relationships among the petroleum sector, manufacturers of vehicles and diesel engines, the agroindustrial complex of soy and the family farming in the context of the National Program for the Production and Use of Biodiesel (PNPB), in order to verify the possibilities offered by the program, in particular to family farming, under the perspective of territorial development. For this, we based in concepts of economy and economic sociology, development theories and methodologies for the analysis of public policies. We assume that the opportunities emerged by the PNPB are rooted in the interests of the social groups involved in the political process, in the role of institutions responsible for the decision-making and in the ideas advocated by the social actors and public managers involved in setting the policy. Therefore, the thesis begins with a description and interpretation of PNPB and continues with an analysis of demands and answers from the program for the petroleum sector, manufacturers of engines, diesel vehicles and soy complex, ending with the possibilities of the PNPB for family farming, since the perspective of territorial development. The research demonstrates that the emergency of PNPB was a result of dynamic and broader political matters in order to meet demands from the petroleum sector, manufacturers of diesel vehicles and soy complex and from which emerge opportunities for family farming. However, the biodiesel market is subordinated to the soy complex, totally linked to the diesel market and, therefore, restraints the participation of family farming to the specialized soy producers. Regarding the territorial development, we conclude that the production of raw materials for biodiesel benefits the economic aspects in detriment to the social and environmental impacts, thereby jeopardizing the sustainable development of rural areas.