Rurality and poverty at Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) State: a view through the capability approach

Abstract

Rio Grande do Sul is one of Brazilian states that present the best indicators in quality of life developed by several institutes. However, it is still possible to verify the existence of situations characterized by lacks in relation to the attendance of some necessities that, finally, characterize situations of poverty. Being a state essentially associated to agriculture, which is developed predominantly in rural environments, there is evidence of a debate about the characteristics of rural poverty. Associated with the capability approach, developed by Amartya Sen, the objective of this work is identify social and structural aspects that are able to characterize situations of lack in relation the some aspects, aiming at the characterization of rural poverty in the state in relation to the situations that configure the access possibilities to the municipal opportunities (entitlements). An analytical suggestion is presented here that tried not to be limited to the situation of income or the type of productive activity. In this direction, the municipalities were characterized in relation to the rurality (associated the productive and landscape aspects) and to the situations of poverty (associated to the per capita municipal income and the variation of the infrastructure related to services of education and health).