Family Farming and Sugarcane Agroindustry

The Brazilian government resumed its agro-energy policies to stimulate sugarcane production, justifying this move by pointing to rising oil prices. As a result, the state of Goiás became one of the main areas of expansion for sugarcane. Crops are being planted not only on large tracts of land, but also in regions where family farming is practised. The study aimed to understand the ways in which family farmers are integrated into the sugarcane agroindustry, as well as the social and environmental contradictions triggered by the expansion of sugarcane cultivation in Itapuranga, Goiás, a municipality dominated by family farming. It was observed that agroenergy policies contributed to transforming the socioeconomic context of Itapuranga. The new relationships mediated by integration contracts caused considerable changes in the social, organisational and productive dynamics of farmers, triggering contradictory processes in job creation, migration, controversies surrounding violence, as well as in the supply and prices of foodstuffs and society’s relationship with the environment.