Rural development and the multifunctionality of family agriculture

Abstract

Changes in social, environmental and economic relations have brought new reflections, with the challenge of understanding the new rural development. In this sense, it is necessary to abandon the reductionist view of rural development as just agricultural, as it is insufficient to explain reality with many particularities, such as family production, the transformation of the rural landscape, multifunctionality, since the purpose of this development is to promote and improve the living conditions of rural families. Given this context, the objective of the article is to verify how the multifunctionality of family farming can influence rural development. This study is relevant because it contributes to the understanding of the relationship between multifunctionality, family farming and development, being another perspective with a multifaceted character. The research is biliographic, has a qualitative approach of exploratory descriptive character. The results show that family farming can influence rural development through the joint manifestation of the functions of multifunctionality: socioeconomic reproduction, food security, maintenance of the sociocultural fabric, preservation of the natural environment, making it an agent of rural development, benefiting rural families, the environment and society. Thus, the multifunctionality of family farming is an instrument for achieving rural development, so public policies should consider it, after solving the urgent needs established in rural areas: infrastructure, housing, health, education, promotion of agriculture, seeking a better quality of life for rural populations, achieving the consolidation of sustainable and liberating rural development.