Credit programme for family farming in Brazil

Public policies for family farming play an important role in expanding farmers'' productive capacity. In Brazil the National Programme for Strengthening Family Farming (PRONAF) stands out among the policies for this segment. In view of the importance of this credit programme and taking on the challenge of incorporating evaluation systematically into the government''s public management practice this book sought to assess whether Pronaf has enabled women beneficiaries to increase the productive capacity of their property increase their income and improve their quality of life and whether it is possible to associate it with a process of empowerment of women beneficiaries. The analysis was conducted using a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach. Data was collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The research findings also reveal that PRONAF is necessary for improving production income quality of life and empowerment but the sufficiency ratio is still very low.