A Decision Support Model for Assisting Smallholder Farmers on Bidding to Supply to Institutional Markets

In Brazil, institutional markets emerged as an opportunity for family farmers to distribute their produce and secure and income. However, the lengthy bureaucratic process and relatively high cost associated to the bidding process for such markets determine the challenge faced by family farmers to decide which public calls to subscribe to in order to distribute their products to schools and public institutions through governmental programs as PAA and PNAE. This research proposes a Decision Support System (DSS) based on a mathematical model to help the farmers in the bid/no-bid decision. Based on the individual profitability of the products and the geographical area value concentration criterion, the DSS suggests to the farmers which bids to attend in order to obtain the expected highest profit if the bids are secured.