Avaliação da sustentabilidade dos agroecossistemas de agricultures familiares agroecológicos de Chapecó-Santa Catarina

Abstract

Agroecology is a science that allows the development of a sustainable, productive and profitable agriculture without harming the environment and society, guaranteeing quality of life for the farming families as well as the consumers. It values the wisdom of the farmer, his culture and mainly provides autonomy in front of the market. The sustainability assessment allows the operationalization of the fundamentals of sustainability, enabling the management of agroecosystems with a view to strengthening and maintaining family units. The present study aims to evaluate over time the level of sustainability of the agroecosystems of five agroecological family farmers of Chapecó-Santa Catarina, carrying out the second phase of the MESMIS methodology. This methodology consists of a tool to measure the evaluation and monitoring of agroecosystems, being called the Framework for the Evaluation of Natural Resource Management Systems Incorporating Sustainability Indicators (MESMIS). The MESMIS methodology is easily applied and understood by all those involved in the evaluation process, in addition to prioritizing farmers as the process subjects. The evaluation of these indicators can reveal the complexity of agroecosystems and the main achievements and challenges faced by families. As a result of the present case study of the evaluation of the sustainability of agroecosystems in the economic, social and environmental dimensions, the following points were identified: soil health, diversity, agroecological management, water, sewage and solid waste; for the economic dimension, labor, crop yield, dependence on external inputs, commercialization, profitability and administrative and financial control; and for the social dimension, quality of life, access to information and knowledge, participatory action and land structure. For each of these highlighted points, indicators were selected and evaluation parameters were constructed that standardized the results in grades between 1.0 and 3.0. The evaluation of these indicators revealed the complexity of the agroecosystems and the main achievements and challenges faced by the families, allowing the identification of opportunities for sustainability. Highlights of water, manpower and profitability were pointed out by families as the main limiting factors for the sustainability of agroecosystems. The application of the MESMIS method corroborated the evaluation of sustainability over time through monitoring cycles, while favoring the development of planning, execution, control and critical analysis activities for the continuous improvement of the agroecosystems of the farming families.