Agricultura familiar, águas e estratégias produtivas em comunidades rurais do Vale do Jequitinhonha

Abstract

This article seeks to analyze the relationships between water and production in the Semiarid region of Minas Gerais. It aims to understand socio-environmental and production strategies developed by family farmers to produce food in situations of water scarcity. To this end, in-depth research was developed with families of family farmers in the Jequitinhonha Valley, represented by a sample that was extracted from six municipalities contextualizing the three Upper, Middle and Lower Jequitinhonha Territories. From the research it was possible to describe the productive activities in the different production systems of family farmers, map the productive spaces used by farming families, and it was also possible to extract the productive strategies that are articulated and developed by families to produce foods. Note the importance of community management of water sources interspersed with public programs accessed for families to build their productive systems.