Sustentabilidade de sistemas agrícolas de produção familiar em área de assentamento quilombola em Óbidos, Pará, Brasil

Abstract

The Quilombola Special Settlement Project “Área das Cabeceiras” (PAQ), located in the rural area of the municipality of Óbidos-PA, is a modality that belongs to the category of Environmentally Differentiated Settlements Project (PAD), and covers a set of rural communities remaining from quilombos that have family farming as the main source of subsistence and income generation. As it is an environmentally differentiated settlement area, based on the principles of sustainable development, this study aims to evaluate the socioeconomic and environmental sustainability of family agricultural systems in rural communities of the quilombola settlement project “Área das Cabeceiras”, identifying its factors limitations and potential. This Thesis is classified as applied research, whose research strategy is the case study, expanded into a mixed methods approach and with exploratory and descriptive objectives. In methodological terms, the study was carried out using the operational structure proposed by the MESMIS method (Framework for the Assessment of Natural Resource Management Systems Incorporating Sustainability Indicators), which involved collecting secondary data in bibliographic research and data collection primary field research, mainly through semi-structured interviews and direct observations. The data were analyzed and interpreted according to the study objectives and presented in the form of tables, tables and graphs. The main guiding question is: can the family production agricultural systems of the quilombola settlement project “Área das Cabeceiras” be considered sustainable, from environmental, social and economic aspects? The results of the first evaluation cycle of the MESMIS method demonstrated that agricultural systems based on family production present factors favorable to environmental and social sustainability, indicating a potentially sustainable situation. Regarding the economic dimension, the results demonstrated that agricultural systems present factors limiting sustainability, indicating an environmentally unsustainable situation. This Thesis could contribute to decision-making by quilombola farmers and serve as a basis for planning public policies, as well as for the development of new research in the region