This research analyzes the influence that the Family Farming Food Acquisition Program
has on the work done by women farmers of the Trevo de Belterra Community,
Municipality of Belterra, Micro-region of Santarém, the Integration Region Lower
Amazon, Pará, Brazil. It is a case study from the qualitative approach, in which the
main methodological procedures used were: participant observation and semi-structured
interview. The theoretical framework that embodied the research draws on the following
thematic categories: peasants, productive work of female farmers and public policies for
rural areas. The key findings show that: i) the Municipal PAA of Santarém is the result
of an articulation between social actors (family farmers and the Unions of Rural
Workers of Santarém, Belterra and Mojuí dos Campos) and government institutions,
with emphasis for Santarém City Hall, which produced an innovative institutional and
spatial arrangement to constitute a geographical area for the implementation of
Santarém’s Municipal PAA, which also encompasses the municipalities of Belterra and
Mojuí dos Campos; ii) the PAA influence on the work of female farmers are more
expressive regarding the production practices and intensity of work, since no changes
with regard to working hours was observed; iii) participation in PAA allowed not only a
strengthening of economic empowerment of women farmers, but also decision-making
autonomy, in which these women are gradually earning active voice and their
suggestions included; iv) participation in the PAA encourages the involvement of
women farmers associations, cooperatives and union membership; it is a way of them
having contact with the information linked to family farming.
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