UFSCar index of food security for family farmers

Abstract

This paper came from the assumption that the discovery of specificities is made possible when the regional or territorial perspective is adopted. Thus, the southwest region of São Paulo State was defined as a first research object for the appliance, framing and handling of a new ‘UFSCar’ index of food security for family farming. It was used the factor analysis technique for the index making, considering a set of variables which have technical and methodological adherence to food security of family farmers, and it started from the assumption that the Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar (EBIA) has analytical limitations in meso and micro levels of food security conditions of those farmers. It was found that the food security index presents higher values for the mostly specialized family farmers, who depend more of farm income than the pluriactivity farmers, with less dependence of non-agricultural income, diversified on agricultural production and with higher own consumption values. The appliance and analysis of ‘UFSCar’ index also showed that it is possible to compare family farmers of different regions, territories, municipalities and other spatial delimitations that the public managers find convenient, what may open possibilities to reorder public policies for food security in Brazil.