Experiências vividas, cotidiano e condições de vida em agroindústrias familiares alimentícias : uma análise a partir da região de Santa Cruz do Sul/RS - Brasil.

Abstract

The theme of this dissertation was the family food agro-industries (AIFAs). These are understood as micro and small enterprises for processing agricultural products from family farming, having as final product foods: cane molasses, pickles, sausages, cheese, juices, honey, cookies, minimally processed vegetables, among many others. These enterprises become of paramount importance, because in addition to adding income to the primary product, they participate in a local economy, with raw materials, inputs, labor and commercialization within the region itself. The subjects, who decide to undertake and bet on the idea of a family agroindustry, carry with them the family and community history, forming unique products, but they also carry a lot of effort, work and the search for knowledge that they did not have before. An AIFA becomes the main source of income for the family, however it needs investments in a physical structure and in everything that permeates it. In this research, we sought to understand and analyze the perception of life of owners of family agro-industries who, even under various difficulties, resist for more than a decade and make their formalized family businesses serve as support for their families and their communities/regions. We analyzed, qualitatively and phenomenologically, five families that own agribusinesses in the region of Santa Cruz do Sul that work from 10 to 25 years. Under the eyes of the owners of family food agro-industries, it was possible to perceive a little of what they live in their day-to-day, in addition to expanding the vision of the opportunities that these types of enterprises generate in the regions in which they operate. It was possible to capture several difficulties that the enterprises faced and still face today, so that they remain survivors in the market, and with that it was found strategies that public policies can use so that family agro-industries remain active and generating local development with the valorization of locally produced food, maintenance of the food culture, adding value to the primary product, short food chains, local jobs, generating income for the owner family and improving the quality of life.