O componente animal em agroecossistemas trabalhados pelo Projeto Sustentare na comunidade Sítio Areias, Sobral - Ce

Abstract

Sustainability of livestock farming in family units covers agroecological knowledge capable of overcoming the harmful effects of inadequate management. Also, it promotes agricultural biodiversity, food security and the acquisition of income. In this perspective, the Sustentare Project proposes the rise of a conservative agriculture, encouraging the active participation of stakeholders in decision-making. The objectives were to understand the importance of livestock for the families participating in the Sustentare Project at Sitio Areias community; prepare a document on the overview of agroecosystems that include the activity and evaluate the importance of the livestock subsystem for balance and functioning of agroecosystems. The survey had a social character with a systems approach and relied on the Participatory Rural Appraisal tools, plus a semi-structured interview; an ethnobotanical survey to characterize the Collective Yard; an economic assessment and analysis of sustainability through systemic attributes. Family farms in Sitio Areias essentially occupy smallholdings of 0.2 to 16.0 ha. Livestock exhibits an apparent relationship between the available area and managed diversity of animal species. The product of this diversity of livestock appears with three hierarchically structured purposes, starting with the consumption, followed by marketing and donating or sharing. Cattle’s rising is no longer a viable option among the peasants of Sitio Areias. The poultry industry is more widespread among the families and its main purpose is to meet the self-consumption, but has a high potential of monetary income generation distributed throughout the year. The pig husbandry has demonstrated its importance in maintaining the financial position of the family dedicated to this activity, but needs to overcome difficulties such as poor sanitary management. Goat breeding has evolved in the community with the arrival of the Cabra Nossa de Cada Dia Project but does not meet any more the social role of providing daily milk to children's development. At Sitio Areias the Sustentare Project has been innovating with a strategy that seeks to communicate and to integrate, in a systemic way, several agroecosystems that usually are handled independently by different households. Thus, it challenges the approach centered in family agroecosystems and places the question of collective work, beyond the ideological perspective.