A Proposal Based on Hard and Soft Systems for Public Policies Supporting Family Farms

Family farming is one of the primary generators of work, employment and income in rural areas of Brazil. Based on this knowledge, the federal government has adopted incentives for producers in an attempt to make this productive sector more competitive and efficient. However, much remains to be done to make the development truly sustainable. By evaluating this dynamic, this paper proposes a model based on multimethodologies to assist the actors in defining and applying public policies. To facilitate and provide a greater understanding of the problem, the Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA) method was applied through cognitive maps in conjunction with the Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) approach, which allowed a higher level of analysis of the alternatives. With the alternatives available, the multicriteria method PROMETHEE II was applied to ranking the alternatives to be implemented. The proposed model provides the people involved with a greater level of insight into the problem to be analysed and facilitates the adoption of public policies that meet the needs and preferences of farmers.