Narratives of family farmers:

Difficulties and motivations in the agroecological system

Abstract

Conventional agriculture gives rise to discussions on issues such as the abuse of agrochemicals, monocultures, herbicides, fungicides, and synthetic chemical inputs, which have increasing impacts on agriculture. One option that proposes rural sustainability is Agroecology. The present work aimed to understand the relationship between family farmers and the agroecological production system of the Boa Esperança settlement, municipality of João Ramalho, State of São Paulo. To this end, the research appropriated the narrative, from semi-structured interviews with 11 family farmers who are in agroecological transition, highlighting their motivations, expectations and difficulties encountered in the agroecological production system, in addition to other factors such as marketing, policies. technical assistance, consumption patterns and the acquisition of technologies that influence decision making. This research brought evidence of the importance of Agroecology as a science capable of proposing sustainable practices in the rural environment and identified the essence of the farmer based on his narratives.