Lack of food affects one fifth of small farmers

Family farmers and small rural producers are among the leaders in hunger rates in Brazil. Data from the latest survey by Rede Penssan (Brazilian Research Network on Sovereignty and Food and Nutrition Security), released in June, show that severe food insecurity, when there is a lack of food and hunger, affects 21.8% of the households in the group – the national average is 15.5%.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Quilombo Engenho da Ponte, in the municipality of Cachoeira (BA), has been dealing with this scenario. The 49 families in the community, who live from fishing and the production of palm oil, organic fruits and vegetables, report difficulties in obtaining food.

“We always feed on what we produce and harvest. We were already suffering from food insecurity, and the pandemic made things worse”, says Maria Abade, 45, leader of the quilombo and coordinator of the Quilombola Front of the MPA-BA (Movimento dos Pequenos Agricultores from Bahia).

With the health crisis, production stopped being sold and income disappeared. Hunger also grew in neighboring communities, which are home to over 150 farming families. Donations and solidarity fairs helped the group at the peak of the epidemic, but the difficulties remain to this day. Maria says that every day she receives requests from those who have nothing to eat. “We cannot have quality of life without the guarantee of all meals”, she says.

The Northeast, where the quilombo is located, is the second region with the highest rate of severe food insecurity among family farmers and small rural producers (22.6%), behind the North (40.2%).

Family farmers have a workforce predominantly made up of members of the household and properties of up to four fiscal modules —a different agrarian measurement unit in each municipality, which varies between 5 and 110 hectares. Extractivists, foresters, aquaculturists, indigenous peoples and rural quilombolas are also part of the group by law.

In 2017, 77% of agricultural establishments in Brazil were family farms, according to the Agricultural Census. Small rural producers, on the other hand, can hire employees and must have an annual income of up to R$500,000.

Among starving farmers in Brazil, only 16.7% have resumed production at pre-pandemic levels and 6.4% have recovered selling prices. This scenario is described as a vicious circle by researcher Mauro Del Grossi: with society’s purchasing power impaired and food prices rising, consumer choice migrates to cheaper products, which discourages family farming.

“Those who could produce healthy food are unable to do so and are also starving. Due to the economic crisis, the population’s choice is to buy products that are less expensive and quick to prepare, but with low nutritional value”, says Del Grossi, professor at UnB (University of Brasilia).

Choices in rural households follow the same pattern. The free-range chicken is sold to buy the farm chicken, which is cheaper. The use of ultra-processed products grows – products that undergo many transformations and use preservatives, dyes and flavors to gain attractiveness and last longer on the shelf.

These substitutions already configure mild food insecurity. After that, there is moderate food insecurity, when the amount of food is insufficient for everyone, and severe insecurity, with severe deprivation leading to hunger.

“Small farmers don’t have better quality food, either because they don’t have income or because they don’t have conditions to produce for themselves. So, they opt for unhealthy foods, which can lead to malnutrition or excess weight”, says nutritionist Luiza Veloso Dutra , professor at UFV (Federal University of Viçosa), in Minas Gerais.

Maria Abade says that raising awareness about food choices in the quilombo is a priority, but the debate is not simple when there is a risk of hunger. “Real food has much higher nutritional value, but you have to choose. If you have R$50 and you need to feed ten people, you are going to buy a product that can harm nature, your body, make your family sick, but fill your stomach.”

Farmer Diacísio Ribeiro da Rocha, 76, from the municipality of Anagé, in southwest Bahia, raised his four children with money from organic production: cowpeas, corn, watermelon, gherkin and pumpkin.

In youth, the option was to work on farms that paid minimum daily rates when the drought arrived. “It wasn’t possible to buy a third of what you needed at home, you lived on help or starved. I worked three days to buy 1 kilo of meat. Many went to São Paulo to try to make a living”, he says. He himself went to the state three times to work as a mason’s assistant.

The situation improved with public policies to encourage rural workers. Cases of the PAA (Food Acquisition Program) –currently Alimenta Brasil– and, in the region, the Cisterns Program, both instituted in 2003.

Earnings for farmers in the Diacísio region are between R$ 15,000 and R$ 20,000 a year, he says. He retired 15 years ago, but continued planting to supplement his income. “We had an easier time in life until about six years ago, but the squeeze came hard. Many programs are stopped. Prices have risen, our work is not profitable, it does not supply the value of what we need”, he says.

Meat has become a luxury in meals for him and his wife, Dinalvita, 74. With the rise in the price of gas cylinders, the solution was to cook on a wood stove. And, each month, they buy on credit to balance their bills and guarantee their meals.

“I have a pension and so does my wife, with a minimum wage, but we no longer buy what we bought when we retired. Every month we have to go into debt and pay when we receive it, buy on credit, try to produce what we can’t afford” , he counts.

For most farmers, however, production for own consumption is left out. Working hours do not include taking care of the garden that feeds the family and the profitable garden.

“When we talk about access to food, we have to talk about monetized access. Even in rural areas, people need money to buy food. Production for self-consumption exists, but it is insignificant in statistical terms”, says historian Adriana Salay, who researches hunger in his doctorate at USP.

This report was produced as part of the 7th Science and Health Journalism Program at Sheetwhich was supported by the Serrapilheira Institute, Roche Laboratory and the Albert Einstein Beneficent Society.