Peasant resistance in the context of artisanal production of erva-mate, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract

Artisanal production of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil.) for "chimarrão” comprises a universe of knowledge that despite the threat of disappearance caused by the modernization of agriculture and the industrialization of the production chain of yerba mate, follows being practiced among peasant populations from southern Brazil. In view of this, farmers living in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, that process yerba mate in a traditional manner, were the object of an investigation by analyzing the resistance of the peasant style of agriculture, in contrast to the dominant model of corporate agriculture and capitalist. The determinants for continuing this tradition, and also the peasant way of life factors are family succession, incentives of technical assistance, credit and public policies, hand labor available, the economic income coupled with search markets the appreciation for quality and health, and the difficulties of craftsmanship. Resistance mechanisms were identified as informal trade, cooperation, reciprocity, which are allied to the coproduction with nature, which results in maintaining and increasing the resource base.