The family farms of Southern Brazil

a comparative study of rural credit contracting

Abstract

Since Family Farming has been recognized as one of the most prominent social and economic categories in the Brazilian countryside, studies have highlighted that the southern portion of the country is responsible for the largest amount of rural credit, which would be contracted and distributed equitably among farmers in the region. This article, based on the analysis of data on the socioeconomic profile, on the one hand, and on the dynamics of rural credit contracting, on the other, counters this conception with the argument that the South is not homogeneous, nor is there an equitable distribution of the credit contracted. On the contrary, the findings show that there are distinct family farms, consolidated and in the process of consolidation, which are socially and economically conditioned mainly by the regional context where they are located and by the relationship they establish with other farmer profiles.