O efeito da pandemia na comercialização da agricultura familiar nas principais feiras de Rio Branco – AC

Abstract

Family farming today represents a strong segment that supplies the table of families in urban centers. The commercialization activity of family farming takes place in several spaces, such as open markets. These fairs are spaces for trade and also for the relationship between consumer and producer. However, the new pandemic reality caused by covid-19 has placed family farming in a new challenging scenario, mainly for the availability of marketing channels and strategies to reach its consumers. This work aims to identify the marketing channels and sales strategies used by family farming before and during the pandemic in Rio Branco - AC. The methodology used was the bibliographic review together with the exploratory research applied through a structured questionnaire with objective and subjective questions to 50 family farmers distributed among the three main street markets in Rio Branco: Elias Mansour Municipal Market, Francisco Assis Marinheiro Municipal Market ( Mercado da Estação) and the Rio Branco Supply Center (CEASA), where the Producer’s Fair is held. The collected data were systematized, using the quantitative method, and tabulated in Excel spreadsheets. It was observed that the main market accessed by family farming is the open market. During the pandemic, marketing strategies were adopted using digital means for sale, however these strategies were manifested in an individualized way. In this way, there is a need to strengthen dialogue with the government to develop collective entrepreneurship skills and policies to minimize impacts in crisis scenarios that meet the needs of family farming.