Fatores que influenciam na longevidade das cooperativas da agricultura familiar

Abstract

The general objective of this study was to analyze the factors that influence the resilience of cooperatives from family farming in the Southwest of the State of Paraná, based on management and governance. For this, they were analyzed asconditioning factors, leadership, responsibilities, social capital and communication in the three cooperatives surveyed. In this way, it was possible to verify the influences and actions of the leaders in the constitution of the cooperatives, as they act the directors, the boards of directors and fiscal councils in the cooperative's daily routine, as well as their perceptions of responsibility in the exercise of the assumed functions. They also understood the relationships of trust based on the communication and dissemination of information about the management and actions of the managers while being responsible for the management of the cooperatives. The elaboration of this work took place from a field research carried out in three selected cooperatives, with solidary characteristics created by family farmers in the Southwest of Paraná. For the choice of the three cooperatives, the criteria were taken into account: performance in the Food Acquisition Program -PAA and National School Feeding Program -PNAE,one of which shows annual growth; the other is facing difficulties and the last has ended its activities. Twenty-onemembers were interviewed, 7 per cooperative, 3 of which are administrative directors, 2 tax advisers and 2 associates per cooperative, through a questionnaire with 90 questions distributed and directed to conditioning factors, based on open responses, applied individually to the participants' properties. As this is a comparative case study, qualitative methods analyzed according to Bardin (2009) were used, referencing documentary research, scientific articles, dissertations and institutional websites. Created from the first decade of 2000, stimulated by public policies and government procurement programs, the cooperatives founded by family farmers, represent an important instrument to aid the commercialization of production and income generation for small rural units in the Southwest of Paraná. The results indicate deficiencies in communication, centralization of decisions and the lack of training on cooperation and cooperativism for members and managers, especially in cooperatives that do not promote frequent meetings with their members. There was also a general lack of knowledge of the bylaws and the lack of performance of the fiscalcouncilors, when they assumed the positions without knowing the legal duties and obligations, failing to monitor and inform management actions adopted by the boards of directors, which decisively interfered in the trajectories of cooperatives. In addition, the participation of members in day-to-day and general meetings, demonstrates that for many members the cooperative is only an instrument for marketing production, where reciprocity and trust relationships do not involve other members. Thus, the ignorance by members, the financial needs of the cooperative and the lack of administrative structure to deal with and provide information, in order to demonstrate these needs, promoted the detachment and corrosion of trust and reciprocity, pillars of social capital and cooperation. All cooperatives surveyed went through difficulties, but specifically in the case where social relations are better established, social capital was decisive for the change in management, adaptations of processes and implementation of forms of monitoring, which make it possible to understand the reasons that led some cooperatives. to succeed and others to end their activities, presenting resilience as fundamental to overcome difficulties and resume the objectives previously defined by members.