Banca de DEFESA: MAISA OLIVEIRA DE SOUZA

URBAN AGRICULTURE IN THE CITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO AS A PUBLIC POLICY: THE CASE OF THE HORTAS CARIOCAS PROGRAM

Urban Agriculture, Madureira, Vegetable Gardens, Rio de Janeiro

Aiming to deepen studies on Urban Agriculture, this research has as its object the Hortas Cariocas Program, this is a project that was elaborated by the City Hall of Rio de Janeiro with the main objective of producing vegetable gardens in slums and municipal schools in the city. These gardens, according to the city hall, produce tons of food per year for the most vulnerable population. The Program has been spreading throughout the city since 2006 and the gardens chosen for analysis were located in Parque Madureira Mestre Monarco, in the neighborhoods of Madureira, Turiaçu, Rocha Miranda and Honório Gurgel. This choice was mainly due to the fact that the region already had an area of agriculture that today gave way to the aforementioned park. The methodology used was quantitative and qualitative with bibliographic review, documentary survey, interviews and field work. As main conclusions it was observed that the Hortas Cariocas Program continues to operate producing food in different parts of the city and having as positive points the production of food for more vulnerable families in idle urban spaces in the city and also negative points such as the lack of materials, the shelving of projects to improve the program and the lack of public safety amidst the violence that surrounds the city.