Socio-spatial transformations of the familiar agriculture in Amazonia

Abstract

This paper analyses the socio-spatial transformations that occurred in the last decade in familiar agriculture in Amazonia . Research concentrated on the Center of Rondonia State, where we can find a large variety of familiar farmers dedicated to the coffee culture, olericulture and milk production. The importance of the region can be demonstrated, in so far as its agricultural products supply local, regional, national, and international markets. Traditionally known as one of the most devastated areas in Amazonia, cities in the Center of Rondonia are included in the so-called “Deforestation Arc” with the occurrence of vast forest fires, making the region one of the greatest CO 2 issuers of the country. Recently, parts of the community, concerned with the aggravation of the degradation of natural resources and local environmental conditions, decided to invest in agroecological practices. They privilege the organic coffeegrowing and modify the rules dictated by the string of conventional commercialization, and get affiliated to international institutions linked to the fair trade and to the supportive economy. These activities were initially promoted by progressive sectors of the Catholic Church. They prepared pilot projects, aiming to bring former peasant practices, like joint efforts that were practically forgotten due to the quick expansion of the specialized work in the rural areas, back in. However, the alternative solutions have limits, because in great part the familiar farmers don't meet the rigid requisites imposed by certifying institutions of the agroecological practices, fair trade and the supportive economy. Add to this the fact that transnational companies have been appropriating the organic agriculture, turning familiar farmers into suppliers and controlling the price of the products, mainly the coffee price. These difficulties are contributing to the return of farmers who had opted for cultivating organic products to the employment of conventional techniques, ruled by the intense use of pesticides, and dependants of the vast string of local, national and international intermediaries' demands, who monopolize the coffee price.