Family Farming Knowledge Platform

Agrobiodiversity and rural family agroindustry: Dialogue spaces about the products of family farming at the North Coast of Rio Grande do Sul

The North Coast of Rio Grande do Sul State is characterized as a diversified ecological and cultural region, related to the formation of the Atlantic Forest, superimposed on the presence of different ethnicities and social groups with their various knowledges and practices. Diverse organizations are  attending  to  their  region  mainly  in  regards  to  finding  alternative  income compatible with the  standards  of  conservation  of  the  Atlantic  Forest  and  viability  of  the practices  of farmers. These  organizations  (associations,  cooperatives,  organizations  nongovernmental  and governmental  organizations)  have  established  a  dialogue  regarding  the products of family farms, which in this work is labled products of agrobiodiversity. Thus, the general objective of this work is to analize how different social actors operating in the North Coast  are  creating  dialogue to  enable  the  viability  of  food  production  from  the agrobiodiversity. This general objective contemplates the priorities of the research, that are: to highlight  the  organizations  that  are operating  with  in  this  theme,  the  relationships  they establish between themselves, the process of dialogue that they are creating, and what is being discussed in this context. The spaces of dialogue created for these organizations operating in their network discusses the community practice, characterized as an environment of collective learning  and  knowledge  building.  The complex  relationships  established  between  the organizations that operate in this dialogue regarding agrobiodiversity highlight the divergence between those involved with these products, enhancing their cultural aspects or at least those related to health standards. However, some similarities between their trajectories, such as a greater proximity with family  farming, may be a factor of coherence to advance this group and construct together proposals in favor of family farming. The farmers benefit from these meetings, particularly with regards to the increase in their production, that support some of their activities, giving more autonomy to these people and the re-affirmation of their work. The ways to collectively construct knowledge are based on the successive contacts that could provide an interface between knowledge, technical and local, to meet the priorities  of those involved.  However,  though  it  appears  that  this  process  occurs  in the  long  term,  it  does  not impede the farmers to continue their practices. Moreover, the fact of conforming to the rules of production and marketing of their products does present some contradictions, on the one hand it may legitimize the activities of the farmers, on the other, it could inhibit some creative possibilities, restricting them to the established norm.

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Publisher: Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
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Author: Lidiane Fernandes da Luz
Other authors: Rumi Regina Kubo, Flávia Charão Marques
Organization: Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
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Year: 2012
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Country/ies: Brazil
Geographical coverage: Latin America and the Caribbean
Type: Book
Content language: Portuguese
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