The role of institutions in the acquisition and distribution of food: an analysis of the Food Purchase Program (PAA) in the Southern Region of Brazil in the years 2009 to 2018

Abstract

The PAA, created in 2003, aims to strengthen family farming by purchasing agricultural production and distributing it to people in a state of food insecurity. This work aims to analyze the execution of the PAA in terms of application of resources, volume of production, and coverage of the program in the southern region of Brazil in the years 2009 to 2018. The research used secondary data made available by the National Supply Company (CONAB). The main results were: the southern region received the total amount of resources of R$ 845 million in the analyzed period, which accounts for 28% of the national amount for the period; in state terms, Rio Grande do Sul stood out with approximately 59% of the volume purchased, followed by Paraná (26%) and Santa Catarina (15%). With regard to the number of suppliers, a drop of approximately 97% in the number of participants was found when comparing the years 2009 and 2018. It can be concluded that in 2019 it showed greater prominence in all categories analyzed, in 2013, operational problems pointed out a weakness in the execution of the program with expressive consequences in the following years. The data evidenced indicate that the program presented itself as a public policy instrument that exposes deficiencies.