Águas, estratégias produtivas e alimentos em comunidades rurais do Vale do Jequitinhonha

Abstract

Since the 1970s, actions linked to public incentives for the implementation of the so-called "Green Revolution" in Brazil have strongly affected the water sources, production systems, and life in the Jequitinhonha Valley, in the semi-arid region of Minas Gerais. The objective of this dissertation was to analyze the socio-environmental and productive strategies created by family farmers to produce food in situations of water scarcity. To achieve the proposed objectives, the methodological procedures articulated qualitative and quantitative approaches, including bibliographic research and field research techniques. The field research combined preliminary surveys with representatives of public organizations and civil society, focus groups, and in-depth interviews conducted with eleven farming families from nine rural communities, distributed across the biomes of Caatinga, Cerrado, and Atlantic Forest, in the territories of Upper, Middle, and Lower Jequitinhonha. The results allowed for the identification of productive systems and highlighted five different production spaces - fields, gardens, backyards, orchards, and small farms - that are developed and coordinated by the farmers. It was also possible to analyze the main sources of water supply and their relationship with the strategies developed by communities and families to produce food in regular situations of water scarcity. In this regard, the importance of family and community management of water sources for productive success was observed, highlighting a synergy with public programs described by families as relevant for the construction and maintenance of their productive systems.