Rede leiteira do município de Pato Branco: análise a partir do capital social e das ações conjuntas desenvolvidas pelos participantes

Abstract

Municipality of Pato Branco, from the social capital and the joint actions developed by the participants. The present study is classified as descriptive of exploratory nature, being considered a case study, using a quantitative qualitative approach for data collection and interpretation. In the exploratory phase, the analysis of documents and interviews was done using structured questionnaires to analyze social capital and joint actions, based on the previously defined constructs. Subsequently, a field survey was carried out in the period from september to december 2018. Regarding the secondary data, it was carried out from official data extracted from the Municipal Department of Agriculture of the Municipality surveyed, comprising the largest producers of the Municipality of each community, who delivered milk with a rural producer's note duly registered in 2017. The study covered 28 (twenty-eight) communities in the Municipality, and 34 (thirty-four) producers were interviewed at the end of the study, according to the sample calculation. The selected support agents were 11 (eleven). The research results point to an existing social capital, but with some weaknesses, reflecting directly on the joint actions surveyed. In relation to the social capital variables that were analyzed, confidence, followed by norms and sanctions, obtained the best results. On the other hand, the variables related to engagement, level of commitment, network density and reciprocity (obligations and expectations) were lower. Regarding the horizontality variable (network centrality), this one presents an expressive result, however, with only a few agents appearing as more important actors. In spite of a great disparity between all, the variable information and communication appears with good average; authority or empowerment, had a regular overall average. These results directly reflect on the joint actions studied in both the involvement and the effectiveness of each milk producer participating in the present study. In the evaluation of the joint actions, actions related to participation in meetings and strategic planning were evidenced, followed by training of human resources - courses of professional technical improvement, as well as the action that aims at the investment in product quality. Also regarding the results of the research, it was possible to verify that there is a group of agents more involved, resulting in a higher social capital, and, therefore, have a greater participation in the developed joint actions. In view of the above, this study confirms the existence of a dairy network formed by a group of agents, with some elements of social capital evident, but others needing improvement to have more effective joint actions. In the future, it is suggested to replicate this research, as well as to broaden the data surveyed to include other elements of social capital as well.