Social-Historical Analysis of Brazilian Family Farming Public Policy

This paper analyzes the institutionalization of the federal policy of support for family farming in Brazil. The first part presents the trajectory of the National Support Program for Family Farming (Pronaf), its origin, and previous mechanisms dedicated to small rural producers. The second part discusses the program's results and elaborates on them by analyzing the latest federal measures concerning family farming. To draw lessons from Brazil's long-standing and dense experience with family farming measures, this paper uses the methodology of social history of public policy. This approach draws on an extensive bibliography from the Brazilian and international academy, official statistics and government archives, as well as personal interviews with the policymakers, actors, and beneficiaries of these policies. The results demonstrate the growing complexity of global references, instruments, actors, and mediators of these policies between the years 1990-2000, which made Brazil a true laboratory of public policies for rural development until the suppression of a large part of these institutions and resources in 2016.