Rural Brazil Net Work: Innovation Within the Family Agriculture Context

Abstract

Family agriculture is a segment of high economic and social importance for the Brazilian rural region. There is an increasing interest by the government manifested in public policies. The Ministry of Agrarian Development established in 2011 the Rural Brazil Network Program, a virtual tool that facilitates contact between cooperatives and associations of rural producers, suppliers, transport logistics and public and private consumers. The network´s main aim is the commercialization of required production supplies and of products produced by family agriculture through an electronic platform. Rural Brazil Network Program inserts new concepts and amplifies the geographical limit of commercialization for the segment through electronic commerce. Current analysis describes the functioning of the Rural Brazil Network Program, the measures worked by the government to adopt the program, the main partners, the contributions that the network provides to family agriculture and the challenges that should be coped with.