In this transaction, the degree of uncertainty is high for both parties, which is related not only to the risk of losses under the conditions of this activity (drought, pests, prices, etc.) but also to the risk of breach of contract.

Regarding risks resulting from environmental conditions, we highlight the cases of fatal yellowing (FT) disease in the north of the country.

Palm oil, according to Trindade et al. (2005) and Barcelos et al. (2001), is highly susceptible to FY. This anomaly, according to a group of authors, is a seri­ous disease of extreme importance to the economy of the countries that cultivate these oilseeds, particularly in Brazil where it has caused vast losses as it multiplies rapidly (TRINDADE et al. 2005).

FY is a threat to the development of palm oil culture in Para, aggravated by the fact its cause remains unknown. Several studies have been conducted to determine the cause or the causal agents of FY in palm oil trees, yet thus far, no correlation has been found with insects, physiological, soil, and pathogen problems (BOARI 2008).

In the case of palm oil, a crop that requires high investments, as the first harvest only takes place about 4 years after planting, the migration to this crop did not take place, even though the percentage required in the north is considered low in comparison to other regions. However, this fact was verified in the northeast with the castor bean, where the SCS percentages were high (Cesar 2012).

The low interest in this culture enabled building credibility in the arrangements fostered by Agropalma, and the company already has a list of farmers interested in participating in PNPB. The integration model investigated for family farming— albeit with some deadlocks in its implementation and maintenance—was reported by all respondents in this study as a case study to be replicated.

The oil palm projects are still considered pilot projects, which has contributed to better tracking the results by MDA. However, there are risks regarding the fam­ily farmers abandoning the projects, given these workers’ more extractivist profile and due to the planting requirements for these palm trees. The renouncement rate of the projects is of around 10-15 %.

Given these circumstances, according to the theory presented, the type of busi­ness relationship between family farming and the biodiesel plant should imple­ment a governance structure characterized by relational contracts. That is why by mean of the SCS seal, companies promote the preliminary signing of the con­tract as well as the partial verticalization of family farming. However, it should be emphasized that the attributes analyzed are very high for oil palm, creating a tendency in which companies prefer to internalize these costs by a complete verti — calization of the agricultural activity.

The high uncertainty—as in the cases of family farming—is associated with changes in prices and product availability in the market (supply by the farmers), which in turn contributes to market price fluctuations, as for instance foreign commodities and products used by other industries (competition between indus­tries). Lastly, this transaction can be coordinated by the market itself, but in the case of the Brazilian biodiesel production, this tends to take place via contracts between the processing plant and business farmers and the plants and extractors.