This study sought to contribute to the understanding of the theme of specific public policies
for family agriculture, as is the case of the National Program for Strengthening Family
Agriculture - Pronaf. The objective was to analyze the relationship between the activities
developed by family farmers, who accessed the program, between 2013 and 2017, the
financing lines and the indebtedness index in rural communities of Balsas/MA. A qualitative
and quantitative approach was used, covering the descriptive-exploratory method, through
documentary analysis and participant observation, accompanied by a literature review on the
theme of rural credit, which made it possible to contextualize the reality of agriculture in the
state of Maranhão and, specifically, in the municipality of Balsas. As well as to investigate
and describe the profile of the family farmer in the municipality, the activities developed in its
establishments, the use of Pronaf financing to support its production and, also, the existence
of a default rate of these financings. The results of the research demonstrated the importance
of rural credit, the role of family farming at the state and municipal levels, the barriers to
access to the program and the default rate of funding from rural communities in the
municipality. It is observed that, even with the support of specific public policies, the segment
remains stagnant, following in the production of basic foods for self-consumption and low
participation in integrated markets, under increasingly adverse conditions, both by the
unbridled advance of agribusiness, as well as by the lack of organization of the segment and
also by the low effectiveness of institutional support. It was found that Pronaf credits are
delinquency in agricultural communities, and that this occurs for several reasons, among them
stands out the lack of knowledge of resource management, in addition to low schooling of
producers. In order to contribute, it is recommended the application of workshops on the
theme of financial education, with family farmers of rural communities of Balsas /MA,
providing knowledge of organization of the personal budget and production, aiming at
reducing the current default rates, in the medium and long term.
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