Labor and Employment in Brazilian Northeastern Agriculture: a look at the 2004-2014 period

Abstract

The labor market in the Brazilian Northeastern agriculture is characterized by many forms of occupation, ranging from the salaried work to the various forms of family work. In a heterogeneous and diverse agriculture, there is a complex labor market, with changes in recent times. Therefore, it is necessary to keep a watchful eye on important structural features. As a result, this paper aims to analyze the main aspects related to work and employment relations in the Brazilian Northeastern agriculture in the 2004-2014 period. The sources of information are special tabulations from the National Survey by Household Sample (PNAD), conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The results pointed to a continuing decline in Northeastern PEA (Economically Active Population) occupied in agriculture, partially offset by the growth of Northeastern rural residents occupied in non-agricultural activities, in addition to the people occupied in self-consumption production. Women and young people were the ones who mostly left the agricultural activities, reinforcing the “ageing” process of the occupied PEA. The crops with the largest reduction in the occupied in agricultural PEA were: cassava, rice, coffee, banana, sugarcane, cocoa, vegetables and fruits. On the other hand, the number of occupied people increased in: corn and grape cultivation, services for agriculture, swine and poultry farming and integrated agricultural and livestock production systems. An increase in schooling of the occupied PEA was registered, though it is still below the national average.

Rural employment trends in Brazil: an analysis using dynamic panel models

“…The negative sign on non-agricultural value-added indicates that the growth of industrial and service activities is inversely related to the quality of employment for the groups in which this variable has a negative sign (rural agricultural, urban agricultural 2 and rural non-agricultural employment). 3 According to Balsadi and Delgrossi (2018), the population employed in agriculture is ageing progressively, and the abandonment of agricultural activities -to a greater extent by women and young people-contributes to the precariousness of this type of employment and even to some farming enterprises going out of business, as seen in some regions of Brazil. Thus, the expansion of non-agricultural production, which offers new employment opportunities to these groups, contributes to the relatively lacklustre performance of agricultural employment, with repercussions on its quality, as evidenced by the econometric models.…”

Rural development and the expansion of non‑agricultural activities in the Brazilian Amazon

“…A series of studies have highlighted the importance of non-agricultural activities for the dynamization of the most varied rural spaces (Del Grossi, 1999;Mattei, 1999;Buainain & Dedecca, 2008;Del Grossi & Graziano da Silva, 2006;Balsadi, 2008;Nascimento, 2008;Maia & Sakamoto, 2014;Escher et al, 2014;Laurenti, 2014;Aquino & Nascimento, 2015;Mattei, 2015;Balsadi & Del Grossi, 2018;Aquino & Nascimento, 2020a;Aquino & Nascimento, 2020b). The literature points out the income diversification and the containment of the rural exodus as the main advantages of the new rural configuration, especially for the segment of undercapitalized farmers who have difficulties integrating themselves into the various agroindustrial chains.…”

Aging, male dominance, and decline of agricultural workers in the Central‐West Brazilian labor market

“…After the year 2000, various studies have been directed to analysis of the agricultural EAP, notably Souza and Nascimento (2007), Bazotti et al (2009), Zanchet (2010), Laurenti (2013), Staduto et al (2013), Maia and Sakamoto (2014), Costa Junior and Bacha (2016), Balsadi and Del Grossi (2016), Telles et al (2017), Balsadi (2017), Balsadi and Del Grossi (2018), Telles et al (2019), Costa et al (2019), Balsadi et al (2019a), Balsadi et al (2019b), Estanislau et al (2021), and Mantovani et al (2021). Most of these studies were carried out based on the data of the National Household Sample Survey (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios [PNAD]) and of the Census of Agriculture (Censo Agropecuário) or Population Census (Censo Demográfico) performed by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística [IBGE]).…”