Beekeeping and Agroecological Systems for Endogenous Sustainable Development

Abstract

This article examines the process of agroecological research on beekeeping systems, developed jointly by the Temperate Agriculture Program of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company (EMBRAPA), and the Institute of Sociology and Peasant Studies (ISEC), of the University of Córdoba. The investigation was carried out on different beekeeping experiences in southern Brazil: peasant family farms, settlements of agrarian reform, and Afro-descent quilombola and Guarani indigenous villages. The systems are managed in the contexts of agroecological farming and include “Africanized honeybees” and native “stingless bees,” integrated among trees and crops. We show that the dynamics of investigation that follows the guidelines presented by family farmers and traditional people contribute to their empowerment and to changing their own reality, favoring endogenous development and the dialogue of knowledge. The participatory experiences by ISEC and EMBRAPA Temperate Agriculture through the organization and mobilization of farmers and traditional people generated organizational structures that build local food systems. This joint initiative contributes to peasants’ search for autonomy and food sovereignty, and strengthens the reproduction of this work toward the political dimension of agroecology.

KEYWORDS:

• Africanized honeybee
• stingless bees
• family farming
• agrarian reform
• quilombolas
• indigenous people

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research is inserted into the doctoral work of an Embrapa researcher in the Doctoral Program of the ISEC/UCO, Spain, and has the support of Embrapa Temperate Agriculture, Brazil, being part of activities in different projects related to agroecological transition and participatory construction of knowledge, led locally by teams of researchers from Embrapa and collaborators, technicians, farmers, agrarian reform settlers, quilombolas, and indigenous people.

Notes

1. Interview on November 16, 2011, at UCO/Campus Rabanales, Córdoba, Spain; duration: 2 hours: transcript available in the Doctoral Documentation Archive of ISEC/University of Córdoba, Spain.

2. Interview on November 30, 2011, at Sierra de Yeguas, Sevilla, Spain; duration: 2 hours; transcript available in the Doctoral Documentation Archive of the ISEC/University of Córdoba, Spain.

3. Government projects led by EMBRAPA in partnerships with social movements, such as: Agroecological Transition: Participatory Knowledge Building for Sustainability; Scientific Basis for the Safe Use of Alternative Materials in Organic Production Systems in Family Farming; Participatory Research Network for Agroecological Transition of Family Farming in the South Territory of Rio Grande do Sul; Alternatives to Tobacco Cultivation for Family Farming in the Southern RS; Study and Implementation of Agroforestry Systems in Production Units of Network Participatory Research; Achievement of Regional Biodiversity of Bioactive Plant for the Sustainability of Ecologically Based Farmers in the Southern Region of RS; Organic Orchards: Contribution to Food Security in Rural; Indigenous and Urban Areas; and Quality Seed Production for Family Farming Using Temperate Climate Agrobiodiversity.

4. Interview on February 15, 2010, at Pelotas, Brazil; duration: 2 hours; transcript available in the Doctoral Documentation Archive of the ISEC/University of Córdoba, Spain.

5. Interview on November 17, 2009, at Pelotas, Brazil; duration: 4 hours; transcript available in the Doctoral Documentation Archive of the ISEC/University of Córdoba, Spain.

6. Interview on February 17, 2010, at Pelotas, Brazil; duration: 4 hours; transcript available in the Doctoral Documentation Archive of the ISEC/University of Córdoba, Spain.

7. Interview on February 17, 2010, at Pelotas, Brazil; duration: 4 hours; transcript available in the Doctoral Documentation Archive of the ISEC/University of Córdoba, Spain.

8. Such as: Cooperative of Beekeepers Nucleus of Pelotas and South Zone; Cooperative of Honey Producers from Canguçu; Federation of Beekeeping of Rio Grande do Sul; Center of Support for Family Farming; Federal University of Pelotas; Union of Communitarian Asociations from Countryside of Canguçu; Company for Technical Assistance and Rural Extension; State Foundation for Agricultural Research; and Catholic University of Pelotas.

9. Interview on February 18, 2010, at Pelotas, Brazil; duration: 4 hours; transcript available in the Doctoral Documentation Archive of the ISEC/University of Córdoba, Spain.

10. Interview on February 19, 2010, at Pelotas, Brazil; duration: 4 hours; transcript available in the Doctoral Documentation Archive of the ISEC/University of Córdoba, Spain.

11. Interview on November 18, 2010, at Barra do Ribeiro, Brazil; duration: 4 hours; transcript available in the Doctoral Documentation Archive of the ISEC/University of Córdoba, Spain.

12. Interview on November 18, 2010, at Barra do Ribeiro, Brazil; duration: 4 hours; transcript available in the Doctoral Documentation Archive of ISEC/UCO, Spain.