Circuito curto de comercialização: a experiência da feira agroecológica do Município de Cuité/PB.

Abstract

A short sales cycle, especially direct sales, allows farmers to sell their products directly to the consumer. To encourage and value family farming, the organic market through agroecological fairs becomes a viable option once it has great potential, and because esteems sustainability and promotes reconnection of the parties involved in trading, then reducing distances covered by the products due to inexistence or lack of participation of middlemen. This study aims to describe how the short sales cycle takes place in the agroecological fair of the municipality of Cuité, state of Paraíba – Brazilian Northeastern, as well as to describe the origin of the products being marketed and the potentialities and difficulties the producer can face in the agroecological fair model. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study, in which the studied population was composed only by farmers (those who grows only fruit and vegetables) who participate or have participated in Cuité’s fair, with which a semi-structured interview was carried out, authorized by means of an Informed Consent Form. In addition, the fair’s history was investigated via an interview with the coordinator of this fair. With the development of this research, it was recognized that the fair emerged from the need of the family farmers to flow their productions. The fair happens on Fridays, in partnership with the Rural Workers Union. Further, it was possible to characterize the profile of the farmers and the agricultural production, verifying the predominance among landholder producers, access to water through wells, labor from family solely, exclusive income of agriculture and self-consumption. Regarding production, difficulties were highlighted such as lack of access to water, resources and technical assistance, where the latter may justify the use of pesticides by a few farmers and the lack of knowledge about the origin of the used seeds, reported by the interviewees. As potentialities of the short sales cycles through the fair, the improvement of the income, as well, the sociability and knowledge builded between farmers and consumers, are those which were more perceived. The challenges of the fair were the low appreciation and lack of support from local rulers and the university, the poor road conditions and the absence of adequate transport to move the products. The results obtained allows a greater understanding of the reality experienced by the farmers in the production and commercialization process, evidencing the need to provide technical assistance so that this process can be improved and the need to support and enhance the fair as a short and sustainable trade channel.