Biodiesel and social inclusion in the Northeastern Region of Brazil

Abstract

The National Program for Production and Use of Biodiesel (PNPB) was launched under the assumption that the increased demand for castor cultivated by family farmers in the Brazilian Northeast would promote their inclusion in this new production chain and reduce regional disparities. To achieve this priority objective, the federal government established three instruments. Two of them have changed during the period 2008/2013, but these changes were not sufficient to improve the weak social performance of the Program. This article confronts this result with changes in social inclusion instruments using methodology supported on cost-benefit ratio and semi-structured research. It concluded that the structural limitations of the Northeastern family farmers hampers their social integration if the demand stimulus present in PNPB is not complemented by public policies that overcomes this regional deficiency for increasing the supply of raw materials for biodiesel.