Family farming is an activity that is responsible for a good part of the food that reaches Brazilians' tables. It is made up of small farmers, traditional peoples and communities, land reform settlers, foresters, fish farmers, extractivists, and fishermen. According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cattle Raising, in family agriculture, the management of the property is shared by the family, and the agricultural production activity is the main source of income generation. Besides this, the family farmer has a particular relationship with the land, his place of work and dwelling. Productive diversity is also a remarkable characteristic of this sector, as it often combines subsistence production with production for the market.
Law 11.326, of July 24, 2006, defines the guidelines for the formulation of the National Family Farming Policy and the criteria to identify this public. According to the law, a family farmer and a rural family entrepreneur is the one who practices activities in rural areas, has an area of up to four fiscal modules, has family labor, family income linked to the establishment itself, and manages the establishment or enterprise by the family itself.
In this sense, biodiesel producing companies authorized by the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) and holding a Special Biodiesel Producer Registration with the Brazilian Federal Revenue Office can apply for the right to use the Social Biofuel Seal (SBS) through the Family Agriculture and Cooperativism Secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (SAF/Mapa).
The seal is granted to biodiesel producers who buy raw material from family farmers and meet requirements such as a minimum percentage of raw material acquisition from these farmers, previously signing purchase and sale contracts, and providing technical assistance and training. Ordinance No. 280, which sets out the criteria and procedures for granting and maintaining the right to use the Social Biofuel Seal (SBS), has been in effect since May 2022. The new text changes the minimum percentage to 51% of the acquisitions of raw materials from family-based agriculture, made by the producer of biodiesel for the granting and maintenance of the right to use the Social Biofuel Seal. Previously, the percentage of purchases of family farming production was calculated on a monetary basis of the value of raw material purchases for biodiesel production. Currently, the calculation is made through the total value of biodiesel sold, as published by the ANP.
The certification has the objective of promoting the social inclusion of producers included in the National Program for the Strengthening of Family Farming (Pronaf). In exchange for these benefits, the producer assumes some obligations: to acquire a minimum percentage of raw material from family farmers in the year of biodiesel production; to previously sign raw material purchase and sale contracts with family farmers or their cooperatives and with notarized signature or declaration of the agricultural representative entity of that municipality and/or State; and to ensure minimum prices, training and technical assistance to family farmers.
O Grupo BBF - Brasil BioFuels, which operates vertically in sustainable agribusiness from oil palm cultivation, through biotechnology, biofuel production to renewable energy generation, was founded in 2008. Initially, the company's main objective was to change the energy matrix of the Isolated Systems in the North of Brazil and, with this, create jobs, generate income and reduce the cost of electricity for the population based on a sustainable and clean matrix, replacing the use of fossil diesel oil with biodiesel produced from palm oil. Over time, Grupo BBF has expanded its operations to contribute to the country's energy transition, producing biofuels for other purposes, and has established itself as the largest palm oil producer in Latin America.
At the same time, the company has played a key role in the socio-economic development of the northern region, indirectly boosting local commerce, leading improvement projects such as roads and bridges, and establishing important partnerships, such as the agreement signed with Vivo to expand 4G coverage in the locations where it operates, with 100% investment from Grupo BBF. In all, there are more than 6,000 direct employees and more than 18,000 indirect jobs generated by this integrated work. In São João da Baliza alone, in the southeast of Roraima, the city where Grupo BBF was founded, the company has more than 800 permanent employees and more than 400 vacancies for various positions in the agricultural and industrial areas.
In the State of Pará, the company employs more than 5 thousand direct employees and maintains the Family Farming Program, which encourages more than 400 families in communities in the municipalities of Tomé Açu and Acará, in the State of Pará. BBF provides them with seedlings, swaps to buy fertilizers at affordable prices, technical assistance from specialists in oil palm cultivation, bank credit assistance, incentives for continuous improvement, and the guarantee of buying the fruit at competitive market prices. In 2022, the program's partner families delivered more than 37,000 tons of oil palm, which generated more than R$30 million in revenue for family farmers.
"The sustainable development of the Amazon region is urgent. We need to find ways to keep the forest standing, but also provide jobs, income and socio-economic development. The sustainable cultivation of oil palm is a very interesting alternative, both environmentally and economically. This is because it is a plant grown in previously degraded areas in the Amazon, which follows the Agroecological Zoning of Oil Palm, based on Decree No. 7.172 of the federal government, which positions the country as having one of the strictest legislations in this area, allowing planting only in areas deforested until December 2007. It is a perennial crop and its cultivation cannot be mechanized, which keeps labor in the field. In addition, oil palm has a high carbon capture rate from the atmosphere," says the CEO of Grupo BBF, Milton Steagall.
