Alternative agro-ecological stock-raising in the Pantanal wetlands of western Brazil

Ana Maria de Souza Mello Bicalho,Ana Paula Correia de Araújo

doi:10.4000/belgeo.48485

Abstract

The development of alternative beef production systems in the wetlands of western Brazil is treated here. This study contributes to the literature on alternative production systems of an organic and agro-ecological nature, which are not usually employed by large-scale farmers and ranchers. The rise of an alternative foodscape in the Brazilian Pantanal is shown to be rooted in generations of local knowledge concerning extensive cattle-raising in the wetlands that has been mobilised to develop an organic system of beef production appropriate to this biome. The study uses a relational perspective to understand how new production functions were developed and how ranchers of the Pantanal built a dense alternative technical and marketing network to provide support for organic beef production as part of new sustainable food systems. First, the larger context of agribusiness beef production in Brazil is presented. After this, organic stock raising systems are analysed and compared to conventional stock raising systems of the Pantanal. Then, the formation of organic actor-networks spanning production to consumption is treated. The sustainability of the organic stock raising in the Pantanal is highlighted and its potential for expansion evaluated.

Highlights

Theory and methods understood with a relational network approach in which economic and social elements are intimately interwoven with natural resources and the local environment
2 The objective of the research undertaken in the Pantanal was to understand: 1) the process of technical innovation and the building of new alternative stock-raising networks in a region dominated by conventional large-scale agribusiness and 2) to determine if agro-ecological stock raising is viable and represents a transition to sustainable food systems which promote environmental conservation, produce quality food and improve rural livelihoods
7 The agro-ecological stock-raising system which arose over the last twenty years in the Pantanal wetlands of western Brazil presents such a case which can only be properly understood with a relational network approach in which economic and social elements are intimately interwoven with natural resources and the local environment

Summary

The objective of the research undertaken in the Pantanal was to understand

1) the process of technical innovation and the building of new alternative stock-raising networks in a region dominated by conventional large-scale agribusiness and 2) to determine if agro-ecological stock raising is viable and represents a transition to sustainable food systems which promote environmental conservation, produce quality food and improve rural livelihoods. 10 Sustainable food systems go back to the basic objective of agriculture, namely the production of food involving the sustainable use of natural resources in the planning and management of the efficient use of land and water in such a way as to integrate environmental and socio-economic services (FAO, 2007, 2014). Discourse is offered about low carbon emissions and minimal use of agro-chemicals, which is achieved through the use of genetic biotechnology applied to plants and animals. This is merely rhetoric if current levels of synthetic input use continue to rise as well as practices that cause loss of soil and biodiversity and degrade water resources, exactly the basic natural resources necessary for agricultural production. Agroecological systems go beyond merely creating natural and economic capital in order to promote environmental conservation but are concerned with social issues about meaningful work, quality food and dignified livelihoods for all actors in the food system

Research procedures

Findings

Conclusion