"O Que mudou?": estudo das trajetórias dos sistemas agroflorestais no município de Irituia-PA

Abstract

This dissertation deals with the trajectories of the production systems of the family farmers who work with agroforestry systems (AFS) in the municipality of Irituia, identifying the internal and external conditions that lead them to introduce/modify the AFS. The question that mobilizes the research is: How did the role of SAFs in family production logics evolve in the municipality of Irituia, Paraense Northeast? The study was carried out in the municipality of Irituia in the year of 2018. In order to understand the changes that occurred in the production system, a multi-scale analysis of the agrarian context and the agricultural establishments was done, based on the systemic focus. For this purpose, the historical interviews, documentary analysis, landscape analysis, questionnaire application and retrospective analysis were used as method and tools. The results are presented in two articles: I – the first identifies the historical events and changes in factors external to the production system that conditioned their transformations for the introduction/ modification of AFS. We found that AFS in Irituia were consolidated mainly by endogenous incentives from local actions that stimulated their expansion/ modification within the production system. Public policies that have occurred in history, such as PROAMBIENTE, PAA and PNAE, social organization and the structuring of municipal infrastructure have stimulated and valued the diversification of AFS and the production system itself. II – the second article analyses the changes that have occurred in production systems over time and the necessary adaptations for introduction/ modification of AFS. We show that farmers tailor their systems according to opportunities, self-interests and family at a given point in history. It can be noticed that the trajectories of the production systems present a period when the farm goes into crisis and, for this and other reasons, the AFS have been gaining space in the family farms and in the municipality. In general, the trajectories oh the production systems comprise phases of transformation, diversification and aggregation of value, both in the AFS and in the production system as a whole. There are sign of forest recovery in the farms by the practice of AFS and conservation of regrowth forests linked to beekeeping. We conclude that the expansion of AFS in Irituia and the diversification of the production system were possible thanks to the structural development, the interests and support of the local power, and the commitment of the farmers. The insertion of AFS in the production systems has led to changes in the trajectory that go beyond the structure of the production system, resulting in the creation of the cooperative, the change of farmers’ relationship with nature and the construction of a new identity.