Public Policies and Sustainability in Traditional Rural Communities*

Abstract

The main goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness, in terms of improvements in social and economic conditions, of a technical assistance and rural reach-out action carried out among a group of families from the Barra Nova Settlement, located in the city of Sidrolândia-MS, between 2013 and 2015. To do so, questionnaires were used, provided by the Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma of the two periods, and a socio-demographic characterization of the families was carried out. Social and economic indicators were also calculated (Socioeconomic Index for Rural Settlements – ISAR), assessing the values before and after the rural reach-out actions, to identify the real impacts on the social and economic conditions of the families. Regarding the classification of the ISAR, it was noted that it remained as regular after the actions were carried out, although it has shown a significant improvement in its value (0.42 to 0.57). The results showed a high percentage of young people in the settlement and that women account for almost half of the properties with a single owner. Improvements were also observed in the quantity of productive assets and constructions, types of housing, generation of income, among others. In addition, there were improvements in food security, satisfaction with housing, fixation in rural areas, income diversification, and access to credit, among others. Likewise, we highlight that attention must be paid to some deficiencies such as the farmers’ low level of education, little participation in associations, poor conditions of access roads to the properties, and commercialization strategies for products produced by the families.