Rural youth: challenges and possibilities for the social reproduction of family farming
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17058/redes.v27i1.15425Keywords:
Rural youth, Family farming, Social reproduction, Future projectsAbstract
Rural youth has been gaining relevance a subject of debates on the dynamics of reproduction and strengthening of family farming, as well as the challenges between staying in or leaving the rural environment, which implies thinking about the relationship between urban and rural, between educational background and future perspectives for young children of family farmers. In this sense, the present article aims to analyze the strategies of rural youths who attend technical education in agriculture at Instituto Federal Catarinense (IFC), Campus Concórdia, for the social reproduction of family farming. The methodology used to collect the data was guided by qualitative research, of a descriptive and interpretative nature, through semi-structured interviews with twenty-seven pupils, ten girls and seventeen boys. According to the results obtained, it can be verified that the choice of some young people for the technical course in agriculture is as a strategy for the reproduction of family farming, either to apply the knowledge acquired in the rural unit, or to continue their studies via access to higher education, integrating rural activity with another profession. Those who want to leave the rural area, on the other hand, say that in the future they will seek courses for professional advancement in the urban environment. In general, it can be said that the future projects of these young people are the result of the material and socio-cultural conditions of the families, which imply different positions and roles, played by them within the rural productive units. All respondents identified that the technical course in agriculture allows the reproduction of family farming.