RESTORATION, WORK AND COLLECTIVENESS: A STUDY ON THE COURSE OF FAMILY FARMERS IN THE BENEDITO ALVES BANDEIRA SETTLEMENT IN ACARÁ, PARÁ
Rural Settlement, Agroforestry Systems, Family Farming, Northeast of Pará
The purpose of this work is to understand the processes of adherence and individual and collective decision-making regarding the implementation of agroforestry systems in the Benedito Alves Bandeira Settlement, located in the northeast of Pará. The Association of Small Producers of the Benedito Alves Bandeira Settlement (APRABAB) has been fundamental articulator in the capture and management of resources, as well as mediator with institutions and organizations that support and promote family farming for technical support in the implementation of productive projects in the settlement. The research emphasized how transformations in the region directly impacted the field of productive possibilities for the development of rural settlements and led to very different productive destinations for land use in the northeast of Pará, such as palm oil monoculture or agroforestry systems. The reconstitution of the history of the settlement through the memories of the settlement's farmers pointed to the decisive importance of its rapprochement with the Instituto Agroecológico da Amazônia and the Escola Agrotécnica de Castanhal, constituting a milestone for changing productive and social perspectives. This relationship opened up possibilities for learning through training courses, enabling new experiences in commercialization and agricultural production, allowing reorientations in agricultural techniques combined with traditionally cultivated species of interest to farmers. Finally, the research showed that traditional practices combined with learning from diversified ecological systems strengthened local agriculture and intensified practices of reciprocity and collectivity in the settlement.