LANDSCAPE OF FORMALIZATION OF RURAL MICROENTERPRISES IN THE STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO

Abstract

It is observed that the entrepreneurship landscape in Brazil, especially in the rural context, presents various challenges and opportunities. This study addresses the integration of small rural producers into marketing circuits, with a focus on the formalization of rural microenterprises in the State of Rio de Janeiro. The research was based on exploratory analysis, using secondary data provided by the Brazilian Service of Support for Micro and Small Enterprises (Sebrae), supplemented by selected qualitative studies from the Sebrae Agribusiness Hub and the Sebrae Market Intelligence portal. The results revealed that the concentration of businesses in urban environments compared to peripheral and rural regions reaches 51.26%, indicating that the rural-urban dichotomy is one of the main obstacles to be overcome, leading many small producers to remain in informal conditions and not expand their businesses. More than 80% of small rural producers in the State of Rio de Janeiro operate outside the formal framework that recognizes their rural property as a business. This partially hinders access to various services such as obtaining credit lines, expanding into new markets, and improving and innovating products and services. To overcome these challenges, public policies and private sector initiatives, such as acceleration programs and tax incentives, have been implemented to foster entrepreneurship and stimulate innovation. In this regard, three companies whose productivity increased after receiving guidance from Sebrae-RJ will be detailed at the end of the paper for impact evaluation.

Keywords: Agribusiness; Rural entrepreneurship; Business formalization; Microentrepreneur; Small rural producer.