Resource information
Agriculture plays an important role in
the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Most of its production
depends on small family-owned farms, which are greatly
exposed to climatic and price shocks. In order to help small
farmers to manage risks, the federal and state governments
have been carrying out several programs and measures to
reduce and transfer agricultural risks. Santa Catarina ranks
seventh out of 26 Brazilian states in terms of agricultural
production. The states most important perennial crops are
corn, soybean, tobacco, rice, beans, onions, and wheat.
About 20 percent of the population lives in rural areas, of
which some 90 percent are farmers. The most prominent
climatic challenges are floods in the coastal region and
droughts in the western plateau. Of these extreme weather
events, floods are the most visible, because they receive
widespread media coverage and sometimes cause deaths.
However, drought poses a much more significant challenge to
agricultural productivity. Given that most farms in Santa
Catarina are small and that agricultural production is
mainly rain fed, weather risks play a key role in the
production variability and farmers income. In addition to
government-funded preventive measures, farmers take other
actions to protect themselves from weather risks. One
traditional method is the diversification of income. Farmers
in Santa Catarina often cultivate several crops with
different growth and harvest cycles. When drought does occur
it may damage some crops but it is unlikely to last long
enough to affect all crops. Moreover, many farmers also farm
animals, especially cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys as a
savings mechanism against the whims of the weather.
