Supporting Family Farmers, Small Traders and Micro Entrepreneurs: Brazilian Local Experiences of Income Redistribution

The inequality in Brazil remains huge. In 2012, the richest 10% concentrated 41.9% of total national income. Although improvements were made ​​in recent years, the country's Gini coefficient in 2012 was 0.498, which still situates the country as one of the most unequal in the world. Social policies of the federal government such as the Programa Bolsa Família, the minimum wage increase and the reduction of unemployment have been able to reduce poverty and extreme poverty in the country. However, to reduce inequality is necessary that local governments also formulate and implement public policies aiming to reduce inequalities. This article describes and analyzes four municipal experiences who are facing these issues. The field research was carried out between 2012 and 2013 and in methodological terms, there was documentary analysis of the legal instruments that have created programs, analysis of quantitative indicators and interviews with government experts, representatives of the legislative power, members of opposition parties, small businessmen, traders, family farmers and the general population. Two of them, in Dracena (State of São Paulo) and São João do Arraial (Piauí), are related to family farmers and deal directly with the issue of poverty in small rural municipalities. The third, Cubatão (São Paulo), deals with the stimulation to local trade, through a new kind of social currency. And finally, the fourth case is Cariacica (Espírito Santos), an experience to stimulate local entrepreneurship, accompanied by a public procurement program directed to micro and small entrepreneurs. The effects of the four experiments on inequality are heterogeneous, but the results show that, at different levels, these policies have succeeded in stimulating local economic development and reduce inequalities in cities. They can therefore serve as interesting examples to reflect on the role of local governments in building a fairer society.