The resilience of family farming and free fairs

the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the daily lives of family farmers in Ituiutaba-MG

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought devastating consequences, setting up an unprecedented global crisis. For the economic segment of family farmers, historical obstacles such as the lack of more effective public policies, in addition to the difficulties faced in marketing, were associated during the pandemic with factors such as the suspension of street markets, the closing of food establishments and the interruption of the supply of school lunches. Guaranteeing income has become a challenge for small producers. The general objective of this article is to understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the daily life of family farmers in the municipality of Ituiutaba-MG. A bibliographical research was carried out, in addition to the analysis of the decrees published by the Municipality of Ituiutaba that had an effect on the studied group. In the field research, 50 family farmers were interviewed. There were also two interviews with bodies linked to the category. It was found that 78% of the interviewed farmers recorded a decrease in sales volume. This reinforces the need to encourage new forms of commercialization for the segment and suggests that future studies be carried out to make them viable.