Sowing Agroecology in Rio Doce through a Technical Assistance and Rural Outreach Program in a Territory Affected by the Biggest Environmental Disaster in Brazilian History

Abstract

The work of an Agroecological Technical Assistance and Rural Outreach program (ATER, in its acronym in Portuguese) is a profound process of communication between technical specialists in agricultural production and farming families, specialists in their practice and their social context. The ATER program of the “Sowing Agroecology in Rio Doce” project works with 138 families whose farming activity was hampered by the rupture of the Fundão Mining Tailings Dam (Brazil), considered the greatest environmental disaster in Brazilian history. The work seeks to train family farmers for the agroecological transition, aiming at building production systems that operate in an economically viable, environmentally correct, socially fair, and culturally diverse way. The project takes place in three dimensions: animal, where the welfare and health of animals are worked on, and in the development of more autonomous systems regarding the use of inputs and medicines; natural goods, where it operates in agricultural production, water resources, and environmental conservation of the properties, aiming at the production free of pesticides and industrialized inputs; and culture, through understanding the social reality of families, valuing cultural manifestations and traditions, aiming to strengthen the social cohesion of communities and encourage cooperation between families, and seeking to create short marketing circuits, work groups, and collective purchases of inputs. In this way, the process takes place from the One Health perspective, as it seeks to integrate human, animal, and environmental health. This approach has contributed to increasing production and family autonomy, bringing economic viability, food security, and environmental conservation to the region. © The Authors 2023