Dinâmica operacional e sustentabilidade econômica de empreendimentos agroindustriais de pequeno porte

Abstract

Rural Non Farm Employment (RNFE) has been promoted as a possible option for family farmers threatened to be excluded from current markets as a consequence of globalization. Indeed, agrioindustrialization can be seen as a way to aggregate value to a primary product, generating increased revenues to small farmers. The Brazilian government realized that there is a role for economic policies in stimulating small-scale agro-industries and these concerns can be noticed in programs such as PRONAF (National Program for Family Agriculture). However, experience has shown the fragility of these small firms in face of an extremely competitive environment in an open economy. The difficulties faced by these businesses are of different natures: technological, institutional and managerial. The conventional sanitary legislation is only one between others limitations of the institutional environment, because of its strict requirements in terms of physical structure. The organizational model of inspection services and the registration procedures constitute a serious barrier to the formalization of small-scale agroindustries. In short, there is a series of considerations to be made in order to assess more precisely the critical success factors for the economic sustainability of small-scale agro-industrial firms. The objectives of this study was to examine the issue of financial sustainability of small scale agroindustry under a system approach, in order to promote more a successful survival rate for the programs designed to promote these enterprises. As a methodological approach, concepts and procedures from the area of system dynamics (SD) originally developed at MIT in the 50’s were used. This means following a multidisciplinary focus in order to understand and model the structure of a system and its dynamics, allowing the analysis of policies and strategies that impact its performance. A classical agroindustrial system conceptualization was followed, considering the sub-systems of supply, processing and distribution and their relation to the competitive and institutional environment. A broad analysis of selected programs designed to promote small-scale agro-industries in Brazil was made in order to draw the influence diagrams. Eleven programs were identified and between them 5 were state or district sponsored, and 6 were municipal or regional. A rapid appraisal was conducted, applying structured interviews to small farm owners of 35 food plants promoted in those programs. Additionally, 27 specialists, even as executives, policy makers and NGO staff engaged in RNFE promotion were also interviewed. These procedures allowed capturing the relevant “mental models”. It also brought out the diversity of the institutional environment around each particular case, showing how the conceptual model of RNFE experienced in Brazil is being reproduced in many regions. One extensive description and discussion about these programs and their funding was done, in order to convey information for policy makers, and also encouraging new interventions. A System Dynamic Simulation was built with the “POWERSIM” software. This allowed taking under consideration the interaction between the identified variables and the competitive environment. Especial consideration was given to the mechanisms of feedback and delay (time gaps) as results of policy actions and this relation with the supply and distributive systems. Also examined were the mechanisms related to internal operations (technological choices; operational procedures etc.). The model was based in sub-systems and they were built independently to investigate bottlenecks as “cost of quality”, “diversification”, “influence of “Voizin” system (an organic production technique)” and so on. The model was used to simulate the behavior of 3 agroindustries firms under alternative policies. This procedure followed allowed insights about the sustainability of each selected small-scale agroindustry and proved to be a potential tool for decision makers when formulating new strategies and program in this area of activities.