Subproject 43

Characterization of informal productive activities

Subproject 43 seeks to assess the main informal productive activities, whether domestic, cooperative or associative, in 19 of the municipalities affected by the collapse of the Córrego do Feijão mine dam in Brumadinho in the periods before and after the collapse.

Among its goals are:

  • Identify, characterize and dimension, based on secondary data and primary research, the most relevant informal productive activities in the 19 affected municipalities, as well as the characteristics of their actors and enterprises;
  • Identify and characterize the distribution and supply chains and the main consumer markets linked to these activities;
  • Identify and map the networks of economic relations in the informal sector of the municipalities.
  • Evaluate the performance of the informal economy in the period prior to the disruption, and at the present time, considering the effects of any mitigating and remedial measures adopted in the period;
  • Propose a typology of impacts, considering the different conditions of vulnerability and resilience of informal production units in the affected territory.

 

Methodological Steps

 

1st Stage: Identification and characterization, via secondary databases, of the informal economy in the 19 affected municipalities and preparation of the network analysis questionnaire;

2nd Step: Network analysis;

3rd Stage: Mapping of key actors and the universe of cooperatives and producer associations in the affected municipalities;

4th Stage: Elaboration and pre-test of a research instrument (questionnaire) to be applied with cooperatives and producer associations;

5th Stage Conducting a survey with cooperatives and producer associations;

6th Step: Data analysis, calculation of vulnerability and resilience indicators and impact typology.

 

Meet the team!

Subproject Timeline Subproject 43

 

 

 

Month 1 e 2 (02/2021 e 03/2021)
Month 3, 4, 5 e 6 
Month 3, 4, 5 e 6 
Month 6
Month 6, 7 e 8
Month 9 e 10 (10/2021 e 11/2021)

Stage 1
● Identification and characterization, via secondary databases, of the informal economy in the 19 affected municipalities and preparation of the network analysis questionnaire.
● Delivery of Product A - Description and operationalization of activities and the information collection schedules in the municipalities.
● Delivery of Product B Identification and characterization of the informal economy in the 19 affected municipalities via secondary databases.
● Delivery of Product C - Preparation of questionnaires to be used in mapping and network analysis

Stage 2 - Network analysis
This stage will consist of a sociometric analysis (or network analysis) to map the structure of the informal sector in the 19 researched municipalities, its connections and dynamics. One can visualize, in Figure 1, a typology that allows to build an intelligible classification of the universe of the informal economy.
The research on networks will be carried out in two stages. In a first moment, from secondary data, it will be possible to generate "seeds" within the population of informal workers, which was estimated at 155,311 individuals (estimation made from 2010 Demographic Census data and projections of the evolution of the informal labor market, from the National Surveys by Household Sampling; estimation that should be improved with the use of other secondary data, after the beginning of the project).
In a second stage, an analysis of data from complete networks will be developed, based on the Snowball methodology. A total sample size for the composition of complete networks of 1,213 individuals has been estimated.
The Network Analysis will produce information for the next stages of the research. Delivery of Product D - Network Analysis Report, mapping the informal economy connections in the 19 municipalities analyzed.

Stage 3 - Mapping key actors and the universe of cooperatives and producer associations in the affected municipalities
This stage will start from existing information bases to identify the universe of cooperatives and associations in the affected municipalities. At first, data from the Registry of the Organization of Cooperatives of Minas Gerais (Ocemg) and the National Registry of Solidarity Economic Enterprises (Cadsol) will be analyzed.
Consultation with municipalities about the registration of associations and cooperatives in the municipalities. In a third moment, a consultation will be carried out with key actors in the territory and other studies focused on the affected territory.

Stage 4 - Drafting and pre-testing of research instrument (questionnaire) to be applied with the cooperatives and producer associations)
a) Focus group
This stage will begin with the holding of a focus group with representatives of the associations and cooperatives of the 19 municipalities. The focus group will seek to capture, in a qualitative way, the perception of these organizations regarding the impacts caused by the dam breach on their results and organizational forms.
b) Preparation of the questionnaire and pre-testing The elaboration of the research instrument will be based on existing questionnaires and registers of associative enterprises, such as the Register of the Organization of Cooperatives of Minas Gerais (Ocemg), the National Register of Solidarity Economic Enterprises (Cadsol) and the Information System in Solidarity Economy (SIES, linked to the former National Secretariat of Solidarity Economy - Ministry of Labor and Employment).
Product Deliverable E -Development and pre-testing of questionnaire with cooperatives and associations

Stage 5 - Conducting a survey with the cooperatives and producer associations
This stage foresees the application of the questionnaire to all the cooperatives and producer associations mapped in the 19 municipalities affected. A total of 100 questionnaires are estimated to be applied. A preliminary survey of existing databases indicated 26 cooperatives and producer associations in the 19 municipalities. However, this number is expected to rise after consultation with municipalities and key players in the territory.

Stage 6 - Data analysis, calculation of vulnerability and resilience indicators and typology of impacts
The final step will start from the descriptive analysis of the collected data. This analysis will establish a panorama of the production units, their internal characteristics, their economic-financial results before and after the rupture, up to the present day, their sectoral linkages, their consumer and supplier networks, and their bottlenecks.
Part of the variables collected will be used in the elaboration of vulnerability and resilience indicators. For the construction of the indicators, the principal component analysis will be adopted. This exploratory technique allows the synthesization (or simplification) of the variability structure of the data, being very useful to the elaboration of indices.
Product Delivery F - Analysis of the data collected, the indicators and the typology of impacts.
Delivery Product G - Final report, from the consolidation and review of the previous products. All the databases used and generated will be attached. A proposal for dissemination of the results to the general public will be included in this document.