Agroecological practices, traditional knowledge of peasants and the praxis of food production

• Grant number: 19/17129-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: February 01, 2020
• End date: February 28, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Geography - Human Geography
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Thomaz Júnior
• Grantee: Diógenes Rabello
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Presidente Prudente. Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project aims to understand how Agroecological practices and knowledge are expressed in food production in peasant territories in the state of São Paulo, especially in rural settlements originating from the struggle for land, and the links with the praxis of food production in rural settlements, the burden of peasants from the struggle for land. It is a fact that the potentiality of Agroecology for the production of healthy foods, counteracts the resistance of these subjects, both for the maintenance of their territories and for the reproduction of their cultural and political-ideological identities. That is, the continuation of the struggle for lands that do not fulfill the social function is a condition and for the production of food. The theoretical approaches allow us to understand Agroecology as a form of work and land organization that represents a rupture of hegemonic references, having as concern the environmental dimension, through which it seeks to eradicate the use of chemical inputs, thus curbing environmental degradation, as well as the search for cultivation techniques that consider nature's own dynamics to benefit work processes. Participatory mapping and qualitative methodologies will enable us to grasp the contents and meanings of the research subjects' social roles, and thus the understanding of the project's objectives. (AU)