Cheese and the inclusion of family farming in free markets in Goiânia, Goiás

Abstract

The production of cheese by family farming in the state of Goiás is quite significant, being the second state with the highest production of cheese and curd in Brazil. Despite this expressiveness, there are few studies on the commercialization of these products. This research seeks to identify the relevance of cheese production in the state, with reference to secondary data, and quantify the participation of family farmers producing cheese in open-air markets in the municipality of Goiânia, Goiás. As a result of visits to the 105 active fairs in the capital and interviews with 160 marketers, it was observed that 73,12% of marketers are middlemen, compared to 26,88% of producers originating in 19 neighboring municipalities located an average of 58 km away from Goiânia. Among the cheese producers, 78.95% declared themselves family farmers. Based on the approach, it is concluded that open-air markets are configured as short marketing channels, but with a low presence of family farmers producing cheese and dairy products.

Keywords
short market; dairy processing; family production; rural agroindustry