Sustainable rural development supported by beekeeping in Fernades Pinheiro, Paraná

Abstract

The Association of Beekeepers and Meliponiculturists of Fernandes Pinheiro was founded on May 1, 2007, with the initial objective of uniting family farmers and local beekeeping and meliponiculture enthusiasts through associations. In addition to obtaining income through honey production, AMFEPI was concerned with the dissemination of bee species, aiming to repopulate the region, due to existing concerns about the extinction of bees and the resulting environmental consequences. Therefore, the aim of this manuscript is to analyze the process of gradual change and incorporation of the Beekeeping activity in the rural areas of the municipality of Fernandes Pinheiro, Paraná. During a period of ten years, Association of Beekeepers and Meliponicultors of Fernandes Pinheiro (AMFEPI) acted on several fronts promoting the incorporation of this activity, thus diversifying the income of the associated families. The beekeeping activity is based on the three pillars of sustainability: economic because it generates income, social because it uses family labor, involving mainly young people and women in the activity, and ecological because it depends on the maintenance and conservation of natural forests. The Central-South region of Paraná, where the municipality of Fernandes Pinheiro is located, has a vocation for the development of beekeeping activities, where the market in bee products is expanding. Herein we demonstrate that through the incorporation of beekeeping activities on their properties, family farmers associated with AMFEPI were able to diversify their income and, consequently, obtain an improvement in their living conditions, generating profit and innovation with socio-environmental concerns, indicating that beekeeping, in addition to Being a sustainable agricultural activity can bring income to the producer.