A agricultura ecológica sob o ângulo da qualidade de vida dos agricultores : abordagem comparativa entre duas regiões na França e no Brasil

Abstract

After the Green revolution, which began in the years 1960, agriculture took new directions thanks to the introduction of technologies and modern practices (genetic modification of seeds, intensive use of manures, and mechanization of the farms) which made it possible to intensify the production and raise the agricultural productivity. This model of production was formed within the conventional agriculture. However, after less than one century of development, this model of agriculture generated a number of concerns as well for its environmental impact and as well on public health. As an alternative to the conventional agriculture, the ecological agriculture - with its various denominations (Organic, Agro- ecological, Biological, inter alia) - has created its own marks in terms of production and marketing in local and global agro- alimentary systems. Its development was maintained thanks to growing demand and investment of large agro- alimentary companies and family farmers who converted their surfaces to an ecological mode of production. In this context, the inclusion and the adhesion of the small farmers to this type of agriculture is the main framework of this research. The thesis proposes therefore to carry out a reflection around the social sustainability of the farmers with this main question: “Is ecological agriculture a sustainable solution for all?” - which emerges within a social perspective through the analysis of quality of life of Brazilian family farmers and the French peasants, actives within market- gardening inside metropolitan regions of Belo Horizonte (Brazil) and the Metropolitan region of the Ile-de-France (France). This questioning cross the idea of “sustainability”, understood not only like safeguarding of the environment and the ecosystems, but also as taking into account the "social factory" and the living conditions of the individuals, in this case, of the farmers. Thus, the question of the quality of life (QOL) of the farmers – where self-esteem and the job satisfaction are intrinsically related to the social relations and the organization of the space of which they form part – is analysed. The results show inter alia, that the permanence of the production units depends on the conditions given to its owner, taking account of possibilities of developing a salubrious work (without health risk), prosper (with a sufficient financial return) and pleasant (as a source of satisfaction and social recognition). Our work reaffirms thus that ecological agriculture is in fact sustainable for all when the variables of the QOL of the farmers are potentiated and incorporated in the local agricultural development. In addition it's observed that the relation between the values of the QOL and the regional contexts reflects as well in the capacities of the farmers to carry their work as in their feelings of pleasure and self-confidence, i.e. of personal and professional well being. The specificities around the questions of food security in the Brazilian context direct the future research towards arrangements of management strategies used in France and liable to be adapted to the reality of the Belo Horizonte metropolitan region.