Economia ecológica de sistemas de base agroecológica no semiárido brasileiro

Abstract

Family farming currently plays an indispensable role in society, moving important food networks, as in the Brazilian northeast, but it requires the need to promote agriculture that is less harmful to the environment, while at the same time being profitable for producers. In this context, this work aims to understand the fundamental processes that regulate production flows and their relationships between ecological, economic, and social indicators of agroecological-based systems in the Brazilian semi-arid region. To achieve this, we carried out a study within the semi-arid region of Brazil. The work was developed within the scope of the Participatory Research Project entitled “Mapping Agricultural Systems Resilient to Climate Change and Desertification”, the product of a partnership between the National Seminary Institute (INSA) and the Small Farmers Movement (MPA). Data and information from 61 agroecological-based production systems, located in 44 municipalities in seven states located in the Brazilian semi-arid region, were analyzed using the LUME method. The data found were Agroecologicalization Index, Monetary Profitability, Cultivated Biodiversity, Autonomy, Responsiveness, Social Integration, Gender Equity and Youth Protagonism. Then, the data were statistically treated using multivariate analyses. Initially, cluster analysis was carried out to delimit groups, based on the Agroecologization and Monetary Profitability Index. Next, the statistical difference between the groups formed was tested, regarding the set of economic, ecological, and systemic indicators. Finally, to understand how the collected data behaved in a multivariate dimension, we performed a Principal Component Analysis. As main results, we found that, of the universe of 61 developed systems, 10% (Group 1) presented high ecological reciprocity (Agroecologization Index) and efficiency (Monetary Profitability), while 28% (Group 2) presented low ecological reciprocity and efficiency, and finally, 63% (Group 3) obtained medium ecological reciprocity and low efficiency. Finally, within the multivariate space we observe that the Agroecologization Index, Monetary Profitability and Autonomy are characters that greatly affect the variation of the data. We therefore infer that the adoption of agroecological practices, mainly in the reuse of resources produced within the system, is of utmost importance to increase the autonomy and profitability of agroecological-based systems in the Brazilian semi-arid region.