Avaliação de políticas setoriais para a cadeia produtiva de juta e malva no estado do Amazonas

Abstract

In the state of Amazonas, the production of bast fibers of Jute (Corchorus capsularis L.) and “Malva” (Urena Lobata L.) had a major contribution to local economic and social development. In its history, the economy of these fibers presents the highlights as its heyday in the 1960s, when represented a third of Amazonas GDP, and its decline in the late 1980s, due to some key factors of the economic policy of the country that changed intensely the local scenery. One of the main challenges of the national development process is the need to promote the reconciliation of environmental conservation and sustainable use of natural resources by encouraging the adoption of a development model that favors economic development with social welfare. Thus, the strengthening of family farming is presented as a major local development strategy, which has in the production of natural fibers a great alternative economic and social, for their growth potential due to increasing global demand and its strong appeal ecological. For these reasons, the sectorial policies of the State of Amazonas directed to this sector were evaluated. Through a participatory assessment the main factors limiting the expansion of the jute and malva productive system were identified from the perception of interest groups. For this evaluation, structured interviews were conducted with representatives of interest groups: farmers, financiers, public managers and industries. Besides the interviews, workshops were held to application the tool SWOT with groups of farmers in the three main producing municipalities. The main public policies identified by stakeholders as being crucial to the dynamism of this production chain were: state policy of seed distribution; protection policies to jute goods: import surcharge and antidumping; funding policy and state policy of grants. The main limitations exposed by the groups were: the lack of development of public policies and competitive strategies of long-term and, indeed, the lack of investment in research and infrastructure, as well as inadequate funding and lack of support in the organization social of family farmers. It was found that such limitations have being reported over more than 70 years of existence of this activity in the state. Based on the analysis, priority measures are suggested for the improvement of current public policies. We conclude that the further development of this production chain depends on structural measures and coordinated action among farmers, industries and public authorities.