Reassembling nature and culture: Resourceful farming in Araponga, Brazil

Berg, Leonardo van den; Roep, D.; Hebinck, Paul; Teixeira, Heitor Mancini

doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2018.01.008

Cited by 18 publications

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References 46 publications

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“…In Zona da Mata, farmers categorised as agroecological, who in the past were either landless, conventional or traditional family farmers, were part of a social movement and a network that brought together farmers, church-based organisations, local NGOs (CTA), the Federal University of Viçosa, and other organisations [12] (Table 1 and Figure 3). Through this movement, they were able to contest the mainstream discourse of the Green Revolution and construct an alternative agroecological discourse that recognises farmers' own knowledge and resources [11]. Through this movement, traditional practices were revalued and new agroecological practices constructed through on-farm experiments, participatory research and peasant-to-peasant learning exchanges [12,31].…”

Section: Farm Diversity and Implications For Agroecological Transitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the farm level, agroecology favours practices based on multi-functionality and biodiversity to reduce the dependence on external agrochemical inputs and to enhance ecological processes [9,10]. Agroecological practices are knowledge intensive and tailored to local ecological conditions and cultural knowledge [11,12]. Agroecological practices can be technically oriented, such as composting or biocontrol and/or more socially oriented and promote, for instance, gender equality or local culture.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding Farm Diversity to Promote Agroecological Transitions

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Agroecology is increasingly promoted by scientists, non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), international organisations and peasant movements as an approach to foster the transition to sustainable and equitable food systems. The challenges to agroecological transitions are not the same for all farmers, as they can face different social and bio-physical conditions. We developed a farm typology combining participatory and quantitative methodologies to assess and categorise farm diversity and its implications for developing strategies to promote agroecological transitions. The participatory typology was developed during workshops to acquire insights on local farmers’ perceptions and knowledge, and to generate hypotheses on family farm diversity. The participatory-based hypotheses were tested in the quantitative farm characterisation, which provided information on household characteristics, production strategies, land use, participation in public policies and extension services. Farms were located in Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais, Brazil, which harbour a wide diversity of farmers and where different actors have been engaged in agroecological transitions for the past 30 years. Our main findings were: (i) In the face of agroecological transitions, farmers differ in their management strategies, practices and principles; (ii) farmers identified as agroecological typically had stronger engagements in a network composed of farmers’ organisations, universities and NGO’s; (iii) agroecological farms showed great potential to provide a wide range of ecosystem services as they featured a higher crop diversity and a higher number of crops for self-consumption; (iv) to promote agroecology, it is crucial to recognise peasant knowledge, to change the dominant discourse on agriculture through social movement dynamics, and to generate support from public policies and funds; and (v) participatory and quantitative methodologies can be combined for more precise and relevant assessments of agroecological transitions.

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Section: Farm Diversity and Implications For Agroecological Transitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Farm Diversity to Promote Agroecological Transitions

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“…The workers often lived in poor conditions, were subjected to the orders of the landlords and had little autonomy. Within decades, diverse social dynamics in the region led to the division of land, mainly through heritage and land acquisition by rural workers (Valverde, 1958;Van den Berg et al, 2018). Governmental policies in the 1960`s encouraged farmers to intensify coffee production by establishing monocultures and increased use of external inputs, such as pesticides and fertilizers, based on the green revolution model.…”

Section: Agroecological Transitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…courses on homeopathy, use and maintenance of rural equipment, pruning, etc.) ( Van den Berg et al, 2018). There is also a diversity of groups and projects from the UFV and the local NGO CTA-ZM working together with farmers on a great variety of topics related to management, such as sustainable animal production, management of homegardens, landrace seed saving, water management, access to markets, and agroforestry systems, among others (Silveira et al, 2017).…”

Section: Chapter 1 22mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the farm level, agroecology favours practices based on multi-functionality and biodiversity to reduce the dependence on external agrochemical inputs and to enhance ecological processes (Bonaudo et al, 2014;Duru et al, 2015a). Agroecological practices are knowledge intensive and tailored to local ecological conditions and cultural knowledge (Cardoso et al, 2001;Van den Berg et al, 2018). Agroecological practices can be technically oriented, such as composting or biocontrol and/or more socially oriented and promote, for instance, gender equality or local culture.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Linking biodiversity, ecosystem services and social actors to promote agroecological transitions

Teixeira

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12of disturbances on global biogeochemical flows, leading to the transgression of planetary boundaries, which are characterized as a "safe operating space for global societal development" (Steffen et al., 2015). Furthermore, the conversion of native forests into single-crop plantations is leading to soil degradation, climate change, erosion due to reduced soil cover, loss of habitats for wildlife, and increased CO2 emissions (Fearnside and Laurance, 2004;Liu et al., 2018;Ometto et al., 2011;Symes et al., 2018). Indeed, plant and animal species are extinguished at high rates, characterizing an ongoing global mass extinction with unknown and possibly irreversible consequences for planet earth and human well-being (Barnosky et al., 2011;Ceballos et al., 2017). In addition to its environmental impacts, homogeneous input-based systems are mostly developed through multinational corporatization and financialization, which often results in social degradation due to increased concentration of socio-economic power as well as preclusion of traditional and indigenous local knowledge and culture (Figueroa-helland et al., 2018). The many problems associated with the dominant mode of agriculture calls for a re-design of more sustainable agri-food systems, capable to provide human well-being and promote biodiversity conservation.Despite the strong influence and dominance of the agro-industrial model, farmers operate in various social, political, cultural, economic and technological contexts. Differences in farm management among farmers can have an effect on the ecological structure and functioning of the landscape, and therefore, on the provision of multiple ecosystem services (Modernel et al., 2018;Schmitzberger et al., 2005;Tittonell et al., 2010). Farmers can manage their land to increase biodiversity as an efficient strategy to enhance the provision of ES, such as nutrient cycling, biological pest control, pollination, production diversification, amongst others (Iverson et al., 2014;Jackson et al., 2010;Smukler et al., 2010). In addition, the conversion from how to successfully implement agroecological transitions as well as its social and ecological impacts. Therefore, it becomes important to use interdisciplinary, systemic and multi-level approaches to understand the ecological and social drivers that enable a transition towards agroecology as well as to identify or design effective agroecological management strategies that are able to provide biodiversity conservation and multiple ES (Dendoncker et al., 2018). The case of Zona da MataThe study was conducted in the Zona da Mata region, located in the south-eastern part of Minas Gerais state, Brazil (Figure 1.2.). The region belongs to the Atlantic forest biome, one of the Figure 1.3.A. Landscape in Zona da Mata showing different land uses; B. Coffee harvest in Zona da Mata; C. Discussion with a farmer in his coffee agroforestry system. The FOREFRONT ProgramThis PhD thesis is part of the interdisciplinary and cross-country research program entitled FOREFRONT ("Nature's bene...

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Using the Cultures Framework for Research

Stephenson

2023

Culture and Sustainability

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This chapter is designed to guide academics and students who wish to undertake research using the cultures framework. It offers a structured approach to cultural research that can be used by researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. The variables and dynamics depicted by the framework are able to be discovered, described and analysed using a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The framework can also be used as a meta-theoretical framing. It invites interdisciplinary endeavours and multi-method research approaches, and operates well as an integrating framework. Further research on culture and sustainability is needed to build up a better understanding of, amongst other things, universal cultural processes, transforming unsustainable meta-cultures, and the multiple roles that culture can play in sustainability transitions. The chapter concludes with suggesting further potential contributions to sustainability research from each of the nine perspectives of culture described in Chapter 2.

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Reassembling nature and culture: Resourceful farming in Araponga, Brazil

Abstract: Leonardo van den Berg worked for ILEA, an independent NGO working on agroecology and family farming. He is now a full-time PhD student at Wageningen University.

Cited by 18 publications

References 46 publications

Understanding Farm Diversity to Promote Agroecological Transitions

Understanding Farm Diversity to Promote Agroecological Transitions

Linking biodiversity, ecosystem services and social actors to promote agroecological transitions

Using the Cultures Framework for Research

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