Soberania alimentar no Brasil: caminhos (im)possíveis

Abstract

Brazil has a vast arable land area, but its history bears deep scars of hunger and inequality. This study is based on this contradiction. The central objective is to analyze the factors contributing to the persistence and worsening of hunger in the country, while also reflecting on possible ways to reverse this situation by examining the history of Brazilian agriculture. Based on this proposal, the work is organized into three specific objectives: to systematize the guidelines of the Brazilian government's agrarian, agricultural, and food policies for the 2023/2024 biennium; to highlight the potential of agroecology as an alternative for building food sovereignty, based on the struggles of socio-territorial movements for agrarian reform and land rights; and to identify peasant movements in Sergipe dedicated to agroecological production, with emphasis on the work of the Popular Peasant Movement (MCP) in the state of Sergipe. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative approach, based on the concepts of Triviños (1987). The research began with bibliographic and documentary reviews, both in physical books and digital texts, followed by critical readings, notes, and analyses. This process fostered a discussion on dietary regimes, especially the corporate one, and another on hunger in our country, which arises within a historical context, emerging since the period of colonization, spanning decades to the present day. This was coupled with a systematization of the agrarian, agricultural, and food policies of the Lula III administration in the 2023/24 biennium, materializing them in the exercise of the "state of knowledge." Subsequently, the research progressed to a theoretical discussion on the interrelationships between agroecology, socio-territorial movements, and food sovereignty. Finally, the investigation was consolidated with fieldwork conducted in the Tanque village, in the municipality of Lagarto, Sergipe, where an agroecological production area of the Popular Peasant Movement (MCP) is located. This empirical locus made it possible to highlight concrete practices of resistance and agroecological production, connecting theory with the lived reality of peasants. The research encompassed theoretical foundations supported by geographic categories and concepts, centered on Space, Territory, Peasantry, Socioterritorial Movements, Agrarian Reform, Public Policies, and Agroecology. Thus, the study demonstrated that in the first two years of Lula III's administration, there were advances in agricultural and food policies, with significant actions to reduce food insecurity rates, mitigate inequality, and provide access to quality food for the Brazilian population. However, in the agrarian field, actions fell short of the agrarian reform movements' expectations. The government's lack of concrete initiatives reveals the importance of popular agrarian reform, because without it, I believe the promotion of food sovereignty in our country, as well as the effective fight against hunger, are unfeasible. We also note that the path to combating hunger in Brazil is complex and challenging, involving historical and structural problems such as land concentration, the continued promotion of capitalist agriculture, tax privileges, and policies aimed at agribusiness sectors to the detriment of peasant agriculture. However, we also understand that there is struggle and resistance based on socio-territorial movements, which promote other food production and marketing channels, seeking to resist capitalist practices that treat food as a mere commodity. Furthermore, we highlight the agroecological production of the Popular Peasant Movement in Lagarto, Sergipe, as one example of the movement's work, which defends native seeds, nature preservation, and food sovereignty.