Today we live in a globalized world, where there are large and fast flows of information and a
technological level never before experienced by society. In this context, the milk chain is
important, being one of the most prominent sectors in both the productive and agroindustrial
aspects. The chain is responsible for feeding millions of people, generating income especially
for poor people in developing countries, empowering women and moving the economy. In
Brazil, in the state of Tocantins, and particularly in the municipality of Palmas, the chain has
played a key role in economic and social development. Given the above, this research aimed
to understand the barriers that hinder the economic inclusion of dairy farmers in the region of
Palmas - TO and propose strategies that improve their position in the value chain. To reach
the objective, a methodology was adopted that consisted of data collection through
bibliographic, documental research and semi-structured interviews with the actors of the
Palmas dairy chain. The theoretical framework used was the Global Value Chain, focusing on
the upgrading dimension. 65 actors were interviewed: 40 dairy farmers, seven middlemen,
one dairy, five managers of super and hypermarkets, two supervisors, two managers of bank
branches and eight independent professionals or employees of public institutions. The
sampling was oriented and not probabilistic through the Snowball technique and for closing
the samples the theoretical saturation technique was used. The study showed that dairy
farmers are predominantly small (65%) and produce milk on small farms, with 52.5% of
farmers operating on farms up to 20 hectares. The activity is an important source of income
for families, but not the main one, as 82.5% have other work. The survey also showed that
milk is the main product marketed and the most profitable, according to 75% of producers
interviewed. Next comes the fresh cheese, the curd, the half-ripened cheese, the curd and the
butter. Also, farmers have significant experience in dairy farming, with an average of 22.8
years of experience. Despite enjoying the activity (95%), most do not intend to make
investments in it (65%) due to the age and difficulties faced in the chain. There is no
cooperative in the dairy sector and producers are disunited, hindering the growth of the chain.
The main bottlenecks identified in the production stage were problems with animal feed, high
cost of inputs, lack of capital to invest in the activity, poor technical assistance, difficulties
with labour to work in the activity and low education of dairy farmers. And your employees.
In the commercialization stage, the inadequacy to the norms and cultural aspects stood out.
Upgrading has been found by product, process, intrachain and interchain, but the chain is still
very informal. The main strategies for upgrading producers are their union in associations
and/or cooperatives, productive specialization, training and certifications such as S.I.M., Art
Stamp, Artisanal Stamp and Organic Seal.
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