A participatory research and construction of the peasant protagonism in the agroecological transition: the case of Sílvio Rodrigues, Goiás, Brasil

Abstract

A research-action/participatory research project was developed in the Silvio Rodrigues land settlement in Alto Paraíso de Goiás, Brazil, between the years of 2014 and 2016, as social action from the Centre for Food Security (Núcleo de Segurança Alimentar – NASPA), Centro UnB Cerrado, University of Brasília. The university offered knowledge and academic infrastructure, and through dialogue and analysis of different social contexts the participatory research was developed together with the small holding agricultural producers in the land settlement, towards the solution of challenges identified by themselves. Based in the interdisciplinary paradigm of agroecology, the experience of co-constructing the research was analysed in conjunction with the potential and challenges faced by the small land holders, making evident the instability of land settlements from agrarian reform in Brazil. In time it also became evident to all the desire to live from the land, the peasant origins of the majority of the small producers, and their importance for the local food market. The participatory process helped to achieve better social organization and to further the agroecological transition. It also sparked important reflections: for the small producers, on the need for social organisation; for the academic researchers, on a social role for the university, on the importance of discussing participatory methodologies in the context of socially excluded populations, and on the role of social movements. We raised awareness of the role of agroecology-based family agriculture for food security and for environmental conservation.