Social economic vulnerability in the rural area of Areia city, Paraiba State

Abstract

The vulnerability is a feature that may vary according to the social and economic opportunities of a specific population. The social economic conditions in which groups of people are inserted are much diversified and have a strong influence of public policies of development. In the cities, thousands of people do not have decent social and economic conditions, a fact which further worsens in rural areas, where it has been observed certain conditions which may cause risks and harm the stability of the population. To evaluate and analyze the vulnerabilities which resident population groups are exposed in rural communities is extremely important, in order to establish public policies for sustainable development to ensure a better quality of life. This study aims to is to identify and quantify the social economic vulnerability index in the rural area of Areia city, Paraiba State. In order to carry out the research, some questionnaires were applied to families distributed into the rural area around 7 km from the Agrarian Sciences Center - Federal University of Paraiba. It was found high levels of social and economic vulnerabilities, which corresponded, respectively, to 43,3% and 80%. The low level of education and the lack of public policies geared to meet the basic needs of the families interviewed; the low rate of rural credit and the trade of agricultural products are factors that contribute to a high social economic vulnerability of the region.