Paula Palacios

La Diversificación de los Mercado como Estrategia de la Agricultura Familiar

Based on different theoretical approaches on markets, the article analyzes the marketing mechanisms deployed by family fruit growers in the northeast of the province of Buenos Aires (Argentina). The area is of particular interest as a local production system which has been experiencing a retraction process, in sharp contrast with the expansion of soybeans oriented to the world markets. The analysis considers the nature of the links established and the composition of capitals as determinants of market insertion, and regards markets as areas of social interaction where new relationships are built. It argues that the diversification of sale channels reinforces the diversification found in the productive level, and that the circuits dominated by large companies and local markets are used in a complementary way by family farmers, instead of being mutually exclusive alternatives.