“Palm oil was a dream”: family farmers and ruptures with palm oil agribusinesses in Pará, Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Contract farming between family farmers and agribusinesses for commodity production, particularly geared toward agrofuels, is a recent experience in the Brazilian Amazon. After a decade of public policies supporting oil palm, initiatives have slowed and today family farmers are breaking oil palm contracts. This article seeks to analyze the decision-making processes that led family farmers to abandon their contracts, decisions that resulting in new experiences. Research was carried out in five municipalities in the Northeastern region of Pará state, the main oil palm producing region in Brazil. Research included direct observation and interviews carried out with 15 farmers, technicians, and union members. Results show that families’ decisions to integrate, to break contracts, and then pursue new directions are all initiatives aiming to maintain domestic unit cohesion and the long-term persistence of a peasant way of life, inscribed with new meanings.