Backlash of policy dismantling in the production of invisibility: when pesticides cease to be a public problem

Authors

  • Emilie Coudel PhD in Rural Development Economics, Researcher, Mixed Research Unit SENS, Center for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), Research Institute for Development (IRD), University of Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8272-8051
  • Beatriz Abreu dos Santos Master degree in Sustainable Development, PhD Candidate, Center for Sustainable Development, University of Brasilia; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0641-8347
  • Danielle Wagner Silva PhD in Rural Development, Professor, Instituto de Biodiversidade e Florestas, Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, Santarém; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2735-9537
  • Mariana Piva PhD in Environmental Sciences, Reseacher, Center for Sustainable Development, University of Brasilia; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2795-5857
  • Stéphanie Nasuti PhD in Geography, Professor, Center for Sustainable Development, University of Brasilia; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7321-5155
  • Ricardo Theophilo Folhes PhD in Geography and Environmental Sciences, Professor, Center for Advanced Amazonian Studies (NAEA), Federal University of Pará, Belém; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5518-7357
  • Marie-Paule Bonnet PhD in Hydrology, Researcher, Unité mixte de recherche Espace Dev, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), Centre national pour la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement (INRAE), Université Montpellier, Montpellier, France; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3950-4041
  • Denise Valéria Lima MSc. Sustainable Development; PhD candidate, Center for Sustainable Development, University of Brasilia; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil
  • Carlos José Sousa Passos PhD in Environmental Sciences, Associate Professor, University of Brasilia, Brazil; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0553-9342
  • Ione Nakamura Master in Human Rights, Universidade Federal do Pará; Public Prosecutor, Public Ministry of the State of Pará, BrazilMaster in Human Rights, Universidade Federal do Pará; Public Prosecutor, Public Ministry of the State of Pará, Brazil
  • Gracivane Rodrigues de Moura Farmer, Sindicato de Trabalhadores Rurais, Agricultores e Agricultoras Familiares de Santarém – STTR, Santarém, Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18472/SustDeb.v14n1.2023.45495

Keywords:

Family Agriculture , Social Participation , Brazil, Amazon, Citizen Observatory

Abstract

Brazil is one of the world’s largest consumers of pesticides, but their impacts on the population are still rarely recognised as a public problem. During the governments of Lula and Dilma, several social participation spaces were created to discuss this issue. In this article, we discuss how dismantling these spaces has contributed to producing invisibility regarding the impacts of pesticides. We were confronted with this issue when building a citizen observatory in the metropolitan region of Santarém, Pará, in partnership with family farmer unions. Based on interviews, participant observation, and focus groups, we analyse how the dismantling of pesticide regulation has occurred nationally and how it influenced the territorial level. Despite research showing the impacts of pesticides, the progressive dismantling of social participation spaces, such as the Regional Forum to Combat the Impacts of Pesticides in Santarém, has led to the invisibility of the impacts caused by their use.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Emilie Coudel, PhD in Rural Development Economics, Researcher, Mixed Research Unit SENS, Center for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), Research Institute for Development (IRD), University of Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil

Emilie Coudel studies the processes that bring rural actors to engage in agroecological transitions. She strives for a more democratic science, particularly processes of knowledge co-production that allow farmers and their organizations to better negotiate public policies.

Beatriz Abreu dos Santos, Master degree in Sustainable Development, PhD Candidate, Center for Sustainable Development, University of Brasilia; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil

Beatriz has been dedicated to studying the territorial pressures and the resistances of family farming and traditional communities against the advance of neoextractivism in the Baixo Tapajós region in the Brazilian Amazon. She is particularly interested in understanding the role of rural youth in the defense and governance of the territory.

Danielle Wagner Silva, PhD in Rural Development, Professor, Instituto de Biodiversidade e Florestas, Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, Santarém; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil

As an educator, researcher and extensionist in the Amazon of Pará, Danielle has experience in agroecology, family farming and public policies for rural areas. She develops research on issues related to the dynamics of reproduction and social transformation of family farming, focusing on public policies and processes of social organization and production systems based on Agroecology.

Mariana Piva, PhD in Environmental Sciences, Reseacher, Center for Sustainable Development, University of Brasilia; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil

Mariana Piva has been dedicated to carrying out interdisciplinary research involving socio-environmental issues, mainly related to subjects such as rural-city relations, insurgent citizenship, quality of life, family farming, agroecology and citizen-science.

Stéphanie Nasuti, PhD in Geography, Professor, Center for Sustainable Development, University of Brasilia; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil

Stéphanie Nasuti studies processes of collective organization, governance and environmental and territorial management among rural peoples. She advocates for a science engaged in the recognition of the plurality of knowledge systems and epistemic justice.

Ricardo Theophilo Folhes, PhD in Geography and Environmental Sciences, Professor, Center for Advanced Amazonian Studies (NAEA), Federal University of Pará, Belém; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil

Ricardo Folhes researches topics such as rural development; agrarian and land dynamics; territorial mobility and social dependence.

Marie-Paule Bonnet, PhD in Hydrology, Researcher, Unité mixte de recherche Espace Dev, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), Centre national pour la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement (INRAE), Université Montpellier, Montpellier, France; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil

Marie-Paule Bonnet researches topics such as hydrology and water quality, sustainable use of renewable resources, and develops follow-up modeling activities with riverine populations and rural actors in the Amazon.

Denise Valéria Lima, MSc. Sustainable Development; PhD candidate, Center for Sustainable Development, University of Brasilia; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil

Researcher in socio-environmental governance, participatory methodologies and building intercultural dialogue.

Carlos José Sousa Passos, PhD in Environmental Sciences, Associate Professor, University of Brasilia, Brazil; INCT Odisseia, Observatory of Socioenvironmental Dynamics, Brasilia, Brazil

Biologist and environmental scientist, expert in ecotoxicology and environmental epidemiology and toxicology. Runs research projects in the interface of the environment, health and sustainability.

Ione Nakamura, Master in Human Rights, Universidade Federal do Pará; Public Prosecutor, Public Ministry of the State of Pará, BrazilMaster in Human Rights, Universidade Federal do Pará; Public Prosecutor, Public Ministry of the State of Pará, Brazil

Ione Missae da Silva Nakamura holds a Master's degree in Human Rights (PPGD/UFPA), is specialist in Environmental Law and Public Policies (PPGD/UFPA), a post-graduate degree in Agrarian and Land Law and Public Policies (UFPA and EGPA), and a Bachelor's degree in Law (UFPA). She is part of the Public Ministry of Pará, as Agrarian and Land Justice Prosecutor of the Castanhal region and coordinator of the Nucleus of Agrarian and Land Issues - NAF/MPPA. She was Agrarian and Land Justice Prosecutor in the Lower Tapajos region (including Santarém) from 2012 to 2021.

Gracivane Rodrigues de Moura, Farmer, Sindicato de Trabalhadores Rurais, Agricultores e Agricultoras Familiares de Santarém – STTR, Santarém, Brazil

Gracivane Moura, family farmer in the community of Tapará Grande, region of Várzea, in Santarém. Elected director of the STTR of Santarém from 2012 to 2021, Secretary of the Regional Forum to Combat the Use of Pesticides from 2017 to 2021; President of the Municipal Health Council for two terms.

References

AGROMEDIA. Top ten des dix plus grandes entreprises alimentaires du monde. 2020. Available at: https://www.agro-media.fr/actualite/top-ten-des-dix-plus-grandes-entreprises-alimentaires-du-monde-45868.html. Accessed on: March 30, 2023.

ALTIERI, M. A.; TOLEDO, V. M. The agroecological revolution in Latin America: rescuing nature, ensuring food sovereignty and empowering peasants. Journal of Peasant Studies, v. 38, n. 3, p. 587-612, 2011.

AULAGNIER, A.; GOULET, F. Des technologies controversées et de leurs alternatives. Le cas des pesticides agricoles en France, v. 59, n° 3, 2017.

BARBOSA, J. A.; FERRER, G. R. Soy agribusiness and violations of the right to citizenship and rural development: a case study of local communities in Santarém-PA, Brazil. Madrid: Ediciones Laborum, p. 380, 2015.

BAUER, M.; KNILL, C. Understanding Policy Dismantling: an analytical framework. In: BAUER, M. et al. (Org.). Dismantling public policy: preferences, strategies and effects. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 30-55, 2012.

BERTRAND, A. L. Rural sociology: an analysis of contemporary rural life. São Paulo: Atlas, 511p.

BOMBARDI, L. Geography of Pesticide Use in Brazil and Connections to the European Union. São Paulo, 2017.

BOURGERON, P. et al. Understanding large-scale, complex, human-environmental processes: a framework for social-ecological observatories. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, v. 16, n. S1, p. S52-S66, 2018.

CARNEIRO, F. F. Dossiê Abrasco: um alerta sobre os impactos dos agrotóxicos na saúde. EPSJV, Rio de Janeiro, 2015.

CÔRTES, J.; D'ANTONA, Á. Agricultural frontier in contemporary Amazon: rethinking the paradigm from the mobility of the population of Santarém-PA. Boletim do Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi: Ciências Humanas, v. 11, n. 2, p. 415-430, 2016.

CORTES, J. P. et al.. What are the perspectives for family farming in a context of agribusiness expansion? Participatory zoning with community representatives of the Planalto Santareno. Confins, n. 45, p. 0-24, 2020.

COUDEL, E. et al.. Rendre visible les impacts des pesticides du soja: contributions et limites d'un observatoire de science citoyenne à Santarém, Amazonie brésilienne. VertigO-la – Revue électronique en sciences de l'environnement, v. 21, n. 3, 2021.

COUDEL, E. et al. Co-producing knowledge with family farming organisations: a citizen science observatory in Santarém, Brazilian Amazon. Cahiers Agricultures, n. 31, p. 14, 2022.

COUDEL, E.; PASSOS, C.; SCHWAMBORN, T. O avanço do agrotóxico. In: COUDEL, E. et al. (Org.). Consolidando a Agricultura Familiar no Planalto de Santarém, Mojuí dos Campos e Belterra. Brasília, 2020. Available at: http:// odyssey.unb.br/interface-com-a-sociedade/cartilhas.

DEDIEU, F.; JOUZEL, J.-N. Comment ignorer ce que l'on sait? Revue française de sociologie, v. 56, n. 1, p. 105-133, 2015.

FAVARETO, A. et al. There is more poverty and inequality than welfare and wealth in Matopiba municipalities. Revista Nera, v. 0, n. 47, p. 348-381, 2019.

FEARNSIDE, P. M. O cultivo da soja como ameaça para o meio ambiente na Amazônia brasileira. In: FORLINE, L.; MURRIETA, R.; VIEIRA, I. (Org.). Amazônia além dos 500 Anos. Museum for ed. Belém, Pará, Brazil, p. 566, 2006.

FILLION, E.; TORNY, D. De la réparation individuelle à l'élaboration d'une cause collective: l'engagement judiciaire des victimes du distilbène. Revue Francaise de Science Politique, v. 65, n. 4, p. 583-607, 2015.

FIRPO PORTO, M.; ROCHA, D. F. DE; PACHECO, T. Agrotoxics, weapons of an undeclared war. Conflitos no Campo Brasil, p. 133-141, 2015.

FLEMING, L. E. et al. National health interview survey mortality among US farmers and pesticide applicators. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, v. 43, n. 2, p. 227-233, 2003.

FLEXOR, G.; GRISA, C. Contention, ideas, and rules: the institutionalisation of family farm policy in Brazil. Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, v. 41, n. 1, p. 23-37, 2016.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS – FAO. Pesticide indicators. Available at: http://www.fao.org/faostat/.

FRANCO, C. DA R.; PELAEZ, V. A. (DES)CONSTRUCTION OF THE POLITICAL AGENDA FOR CONTROL OF AGROCHEMICALS IN BRAZIL. Environment & Society, v. XIX, n. 3, p. 215-232, 2016.

FROTA, M. T. B. A.; SIQUEIRA, C. E. Pesticides: the hidden poisons on our table. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, v. 37, n. 2, 2021.

GAYOSO DA COSTA, S. M. Grains in the forest: expansionist strategy of agribusiness in the Amazon. 2012. 312 f. Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, 2012.

GREENPEACE. "Poison Package" fails to pass the Senate in 2022. 2022. Available at: https://www.greenpeace.org/brasil/imprensa/pacote-do-veneno-nao-e-aprovado-no-senado-em-2022/. Accessed on: March 30, 2023.

GRISA, C.; NIEDERLE, P. Paradigms, institutional change and policy dismantling in the Mercosur specialised meeting of family farming. New Moon, v. 112, p. 251-282, 2021.

GRISA, C.; SCHNEIDER, S. Three generations of public policies for family farming and forms of interaction between society and state in Brazil. Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural, v. 52, n. suppl 1, p. 125-146, 2014.

GUDOWSKY, N. Limits and benefits of participatory agenda setting for research and innovation. European Journal of Futures Research 2021, v. 9, n. 1, p. 1-11, 4 July 2021.

GURGEL, A. M.; FRIEDRICH, K. Mudanças na rotulagem e bulas de agrotóxicos e nas diretrizes para classificação, avaliação toxicológica e avaliação de risco dietético. Rio de Janeiro, 2020.

INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE GEOGRAFIA E ESTATÍSTICA – IBGE. Municipal Agricultural Production. 2018.

LACERDA, E. Associação Brasileira do Agronegócio (Abag) e a institucionalização dos interesses do empresariado rural no Brasil. Ruris, v. 5, n. 1, p. 183-207, 2011.

LAND OF RIGHTS. No license for destruction: Cargill and the violation of rights in Tapajós. Santarém, 2021.

LIU, H. Y. et al. A conceptual approach to a citizens' observatory-supporting community-based environmental governance. Environmental Health: a global access science source, v. 13, n. 1, p. 1-13, 2014.

MAHÉ, I. et al. Quels enseignements tirer du retrait de l'atrazine dans le cadre de l'interdiction prévue du glyphosate? Cahiers Agricultures, v. 29, n. 9, 2020.

MARTINEZ-ALIER, J. et al. Between science and activism: learning and teaching ecological economics with environmental justice organisations. Local Environment, v. 16, n. 1, p. 17-36, 2011.

MORGADO, M. Chemical contamination of aquatic ecosystems and environmental (in)sustainability in the Amazon: a case study in the metropolitan region of Santarem, Pará. 2019. PhD - University of Brasília, 2019.

NIEDERLE, P. et al. Narrative disputes over family farming public policies in Brazil: conservative attacks and restricted countermovements. Latin American Research Review, v. 54, p. 707-720, 2019.

NIEDERLE, P. et al. Ruptures in the agroecological transitions: institutional change and policy dismantling in Brazil. The Journal of Peasant Studies, p. 1-23, 2022.

ORESKES, N.; CONWAY, E. Merchants of Doubt. How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. Bloomsbury ed. New York (NY), 2010.

PELAEZ, V. et al. The (dis)coordination of policies for the pesticide industry in Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Innovation, v. 14, p. 153-178, 2015.

PERES, F.; MOREIRA, J. C.; DUBOIS, G. S. Agrotoxics, health and environment: an introduction to the theme. In: PERES, F.; MOREIRA, J. C. (Org.). Is it poison or is it medicine? Rio de Janeiro: Editora Fiocruz, 2003. p. 21-41.

PIGNATI, W. A. et al. Spatial distribution of pesticide use in Brazil: a strategy for Health Surveillance. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, v. 22, n. 10, p. 3281-3293, 2017.

PINTON, F.; SENCÉBÉ, Y. Sovereignty versus food security in Brazil: tensions and oppositions around agroecology as a project. Society and Agriculture Studies, v. 27, n. 1, p. 24, 2019.

PIVA, M. et al. Agroecologia em território de avanço do agonegócio da soja: práticas e mobilizações de agricultores familiares no Planalto de Santarém, Pará. Rural studies in Brazil, 2022.

POMPEIA, C. Formação política do agronegócio. São Paulo: Elefante Publishing, 2021.

PRÉVOST, H.; ESMERALDO, G.; GUETAT-BERNARD, H. There Will Be No Agroecology Without Feminism: the Brazilian case. Sustainability in Debate, v. 5, n. 5, p. 76-85, 2014.

REDE BRASIL ATUAL. After intimidation by fight against pesticides, researcher decides to leave the country. Brasil de Fato, 2021. Available at: https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2021/03/19/apos-intimidacoes-por-luta-contra-

agrotoxicos-pesquisadora-decide-deixar-o-pais, Access on: March 30, 2023.

REDE BRASIL ATUAL. Pará follows with records of violence in the countryside, lament Pastoral and MST to remember the massacre. 2021. Available at: https://www.redebrasilatual.com.br/cidadania/2021/04/para-recorde-violencia-no-campo-pastoral-mst-chacina/. Accessed on: March 30, 2023.

SABOURIN, E. et al. Le démantèlement des politiques publiques rurales et environnementales au Brésil. Cahiers Agricultures, v. 29, p. 31, 2020.

SANTOS, B. DE S.; ARAÚJO, S.; BAUMGARTEN, M. Epistemologies of the South in a world off the map. Sociologies, v. 18, p. 14-23, 2016.

SARKAR, S. et al. The use of pesticides in developing countries and their impact on health and the right to food, 2021.

SAUER, S. Soy expansion into the agricultural frontiers of the Brazilian Amazon: the agribusiness economy and its social and environmental conflicts. Land-Use Policy, n. 79, p. 326-338, 2018.

SCHWAMBORN, T. Agricultural frontier expansion, pesticide use and risks of human exposure to glyphosate in the metropolitan region of Santarém, Pará. 2019. University of Brasília, 2019.

SENCÉBÉ, Y.; PINTON, F.; CAZELLA, A. A. On the unequal coexistence of agrifood systems in Brazil. Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, v. 101, n. 2-3, p. 191-212, 2020.

SOUSA PASSOS, C. J. Exposition humaine aux pesticides: un facteur de risque pour le suicide au Brésil? Vertigo, v. 7, n. 1, April 7, 2006.

SOUZA, M. et al. Agrotoxics and Transgenics: socioenvironmental setbacks and conservative advances in the Bolsonaro government. Revista da Anpege, v. 16, n. 29, p. 319-352, 2020.

TERRA, F. H. B.; PELAEZ, V. A história da indústria de agrotóxicos no Brasil: das primeiras fábricas na década de 1940 aos anos 2000. 2008.

TERRACLASS. TerraClass Project – Legal Amazon. Available at: https://www.terraclass.gov.br/.

TONNEAU, J.-P. et al.. Les écoles-acteurs en Guadeloupe, un espace de débat sur les pollutions agricoles et le devenir de l'agriculture. Cahiers Agricultures, v. 30, p. 9, 2021.

TYGEL, A. F. et al. Campanha permanente contra os agrotóxicos e pela vida: construção de resistência brasileira ao avanço do capital no campo. Agriculturas, v. 11, n. 4, p. 38-43, 2014.

VAN DEN BERG, H.; JIGGINS, J. Investing in Farmers – The Impacts of Farmer Field Schools in Relation to Integrated Pest Management. World Development, v. 35, n. 4, p. 663-686, 2007.

VOLLMER, L. C.; TONDATO, M. P. Veneno ou defensivo? Uma análise do discurso acerca do Projeto de Lei que visa à mudança na regulamentação do uso de agrotóxicos no Brasil. Communication & Innovation, v. 21, n. 45, p. 165-183, 2020.

Downloads

Published

2023-04-30

How to Cite

Coudel, E., Santos, B. A. dos, Silva, D. W., Piva, M., Nasuti, S., Folhes, R. T., … Moura, G. R. de. (2023). Backlash of policy dismantling in the production of invisibility: when pesticides cease to be a public problem. Sustainability in Debate, 14(1), 99–135. https://doi.org/10.18472/SustDeb.v14n1.2023.45495

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2023): Sustainability in Debate / Sustentabilidade em Debate

Section

Dossier

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Sustainability in Debate

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

SUSTAINABILITY IN DEBATE – Copyright Statement

The submission of original scientific work(s) by the authors, as the copyright holders of the text(s) sent to the journal, under the terms of Law 9.610/98, implies in the concession of copyrights of printed and/or digital publication to the Sustainability in Debate Journal of the article(s) approved for publication purposes, in a single issue of the journal. Furthermore, approved scientific work(s) will be released without any charge, or any kind of copyright reimbursement, through the journal’s website, for reading, printing and/or downloading of the text file, from the date of acceptance for publication purposes. Therefore, the authors, when submitting the article (s) to the journal, and gratuitous assignment of copyrights related to the submitted scientific work, are fully aware that they will not be remunerated for the publication of the article(s) in the journal.
The Sustainability in Debate Journal is licensed under Creative Commons License – Non-Commercial-No-Derivation Attribution (Derivative Work Ban) 3.0 Brazil, aiming at dissemination of scientific knowledge, as indicated on the journal's website, which allows the text to be shared, and be recognized in regards to its authorship and original publication in this journal.
Authors are allowed to sign additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the works published in the Sustainability in Debate Journal (for example, in a book chapter), provided that it is expressed the texts were originally published in this journal. Authors are allowed and encouraged to publish and distribute their text online, following publication in Sustainability in Debate (e.g. in institutional repositories or their personal pages). The authors expressly agree to the terms of this Copyright Statement, which will be applied following the submission and publishing by this journal.