Desenvolvimento sustentável e as práticas inovadoras da agricultura familiar: o caso de Santana do Livramento/RS

Abstract

Through the notion of sustainable development, the efforts of international organizations highlight the emergence of the establishment of sustainable agriculture models. In this vision, organic and agroecological family production systems have the potential to provide sustainable food through practices that meet the principles of sustainability, with the particularity of producing novelties and promoting innovative actions in the environment in which they are inserted. Thus, the study aims to analyze the contribution of innovative practices of organic and/or agroecological family farming in Santana do Livramento/RS to sustainable development. Methodologically, the research has a qualitative approach, exploratory and descriptive character, and case study method. The data collection techniques used were: literature review, semi-structured interviews and non-participant observation. Fourteen interviews were carried out, nine with organic and/or agroecological family farmers and five with development agents. As an analysis technique, we used content analysis and triangulation with the perceptions noted and described in the field journal. As a result, the characteristics of the organic and/or agro-ecological family farmers are predominantly female, aged between 30 and 72 years, with a preponderance of college degrees, born in San Francisco, and most family groups are composed of two members. Besides, they produce diversified food, among the varieties, vegetables and fruits, in planting areas that vary between one and 33 hectares, with production time between one year and six months to 30 years, and prevalence of agroecological production. The family farmers' motivations for producing in these systems are access to knowledge, the search for healthier ways of life, and the influence of social movements. Innovative practices occur in the five pillars of innovation, the novelties produced in the raw material source pillar, are related to the cultivation and use of native seeds, the internal production of inputs, and the rescue of knowledge and practices; in the product pillar, through food diversification and self-sufficiency and food quality; in the process pillar through lower production costs, acquisition of knowledge, and proactivity; in the market pillar, through short commercialization chains, Information and Communication Technologies (digital platforms, websites, WhatsApp), dissemination in social networks, home delivery, commercialization in agro-ecological fairs, and partnerships among producers; and in the production organization pillar, related to the constitution of the Social Control Organization (OCS) and the sharing of knowledge. In general, economic, social, cultural and ecological sustainability is promoted by means of organization and economic maintenance; promotion of food security; balance between new learning and culturally established knowhow; and ecological awareness about the production system, respectively. Thus, innovative practices in the raw material source pillar are related to the strengthening of the ecological and cultural dimensions. In the product pillar, they are associated with the social, economic, and cultural dimensions. In the process pillar, they are linked to the ecological, economic, cultural, and social dimensions. In the market pillar, they refer to the economic, social, and cultural dimensions. And in the production organization pillar, they correspond to the social, cultural, and economic dimensions. Organic and/or agroecological family production in Santana do Livramento, through its innovative practices, contributes to sustainable development, by valuing local knowledge and wisdom, breaking the paradigm of the conventional model of agriculture, through the leading role in the production and supply of healthy food, which contributes to food sovereignty and conservation of the local agrifood culture.