PRODUCTIVE BACKYARDS PROGRAM: SPACE TO WARRANT FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY

Productive Backyards is a program to improve the capacities of farmers familiar with the semi-arid region. In this program they are guided in the premises of agroecology and agrobiodiversity, in addition to being contemplated with technologies of water storage, biogas and the reutilization of gray water. This program is a partnership between IFAD and the Government of the State of Ceará that operates in three territories, namely: Sobral, Inhamuns and Cariri since 2013. This exploratory work took place between June and July 2018 and 97 farmers were interviewed through a semi-structured questionnaire, being 47 in the territory of Sobral, 20 in the territory of Inhamuns and 30 in the Cariri. Productive Backyards are majority care for women (74%). They are responsible for production (90%), maintenance (90%) and marketing (73%). The visibility that the backyard provides to the backwoods women contribute to their affirmation in the field, besides the production of food (in general for self-consumption) and the preservation of seeds of different species, and the rational use of water. The food of the farmers benefited by this program is evident, since with the production of the yards is the base of the feeding of the family. The production of food occurs in a very satisfactory way, considering that the production planning (75%), to market the surplus even for public policies of local FNSs. However, food produced on the farm does little to interfere with the farmers' feeding, since consumption of fruits, vegetables and vegetables occurs at low frequency (54%).