Mulheres camponesas e suas práticas agroecológicas: embates socioeconômicos e socioambientais na Colônia Treze, Lagarto, SE

Abstract

Peasant farming has played relevant historical, social, political and economic roles in food production, as well as in possibly ensuring food safety for Brazil and around the world. Nevertheless, peasant farming is yet to receive its deserved acknowledgement. Its current legal rights result from the struggle and confrontation of peasant farmers. In this context are female peasant farmers who, besides being involved with production and sales, must still fight for their social and agricultural rights and for the recognition of their protagonism, especially in regard to socioeconomic and socioenvironmental aspects. The object of study for the present thesis was the agroecological practices that have been developed by female peasant farmers from the village of Colônia Treze located in the state of Sergipe, Brazil. Our main goal was to understand the socioeconomic and socioenvironmental battles of female peasant farmers and the adoption (or non-adoption) of Buen-Vivir principles for their social and spatial development. The methodological procedures used were a qualitative approach to the peasant farmers’ oral history and phenomenological trajectory (in order to understand and systematize the agroecological relations of Buen-Vivir), visits to the empiric field, field journals, a semi-structured script for interviews, photographs, informal conversations and recordings. Such procedures have given basis to the creation of a documentary and to reflections upon the agroecological practices developed by female farmers in the village of Colônia Treze. The results indicate that the female farmers’ agroecological practices/experiences are partially in agreement with the theoretical aspects of Buen-Vivir. Such association is even closer when it comes to agroecological practices due to the fact that they relate to ancestral knowledge about the Earth that has been transmitted through generations, which promote preservation of both the environment and their production space. On the other hand, these elements distance themselves when there are socioeconomic questions involved because in the current scenario agroecological products are not valued as they should be. The present thesis has therefore shed light on the potential for the continuity of studies that may widen views and meanings related to agroecological practices. Moreover, this thesis reaffirms the importance of growing healthier crops as well as improving and creating public policies for the socioeconomic and socioenvironmental context of female peasant farmers.

La agricultura campesina juega un papel histórico, social, político y económico relevante para Brasil y el mundo en la producción de alimentos, en la posibilidad de garantizar la seguridad alimentaria, aunque no haya recibido el reconocimiento que merece. Los logros actuales son resultado de las luchas y enfrentamientos campesino socioambientales, y, en esta conyuntura hay mujeres campesinas que, a pesar de ser parte del proceso de producción y comercialización, enfrentan obstáculos para obtener y garantizar sus derechos sociales y agrícolas, así como el reconocimiento de sus derechos. Su protagonismo, especialmente en los aspectos socioeconómicos y socioambientales. El objeto de estudio de esta Tesis fueron las prácticas agroecológicas desarrolladas por mujeres campesinas en el Poblado Colônia, Lagarto/SE, con el objetivo de comprender las luchas socioeconómicas y socioambientales de las mujeres campesinas y la orientación (o no) por los principios del Buen Vivir para el desarrollo socioespacial. Los procedimientos metodológicos utilizados se basaron en un enfoque cualitativo, a través de la historia oral y el análisis fenomenológico, para comprender y sistematizar las relaciones agroecológicas y el Buen Vivir, visitas al campo empírico, uso de diario de campo, guión de entrevista semiestructurada, fotografías, conversaciones informales, actividades y grabaciones, que apoyan la elaboración de documentos y la construcción de reflexiones sobre las prácticas agroecológicas desarrolladas por mujeres campesinas de la aldea de Colônia Treze-Lagarto/SE. ambiente. Mantiene su espacio de producción, pero se distancia en temas relacionados con el aspecto socioeconómico, debido a la falta de valorización de los productos agroecológicos en el contexto actual. La tesis destacó el potencial para continuar estudios que puedan ampliar visiones y significados relacionados con las prácticas agroecológicas. Además, esta tesis reafirma la importancia de cultivar alimentos más saludables, así como mejorar y desarrollar políticas públicas para el contexto socioeconómico y socioambiental de las mujeres campesinas.