National Policy for Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (Pnater): a cycle that ends?

Abstract

Pnater represented an effort to resume a national agenda of rural extension. Due been conceived in a participatory way, Pnater’s scope directs to a clear and consistent counter-hegemonic perspective that the Brazilian State would have to implement. The hypothesis that guides the analyzes and reflections presented in this article is that structural and circumstantial factors of the Brazilian State systematically prevented Pnater from fulfilling its ambitious objectives. Based on the policy cycle framework, this article presents a systematization and reflections on the Pnater cycle based on secondary data. The conclusions point out that the counter-hegemonic innovations proposed by Pnater were gradually being disregarded or placed in the background, culminating with the end of the cycle started in 2004. The article points to the need for a progressive reframing of Pnater intending to gain greater social legitimacy.