Socioeconomic and Environmental Assessment in the Aba da Serra Settlement, Ponta Porã/MS, Through the MESMIS

Abstract

It uses a methodology focused on family agriculture and evaluates the sustainability of an agroecosystem from three dimensions - environmental, economic, social and their interrelations. This agricultural activity is the main means of interaction between man and nature, the way this activity is conducted affects the environment, so that pursuing sustainability in agriculture is fundamental, the MESMIS - Framework for Assessment of Management Systems of Natural Resources Incorporating Sustainability Indicators - created in 1995, the objective of the work was the creation, selection and application of sustainability indicators, composed of 22 parameters using the MESMIS, in the Aba da Serra Settlement. The indicators selected for the sustainability assessment were grouped and for each parameter associated with an indicator, notes were established. During the research, we characterized different agroecosystems that express different logics of family production, demonstrating the families' initiatives to adapt to the current environmental and socioeconomic context. We emphasize that agricultural activities required a certain level of variability and flexibility of the processes, of the times they must adapt to many constantly changing factors, such as climatic variations and soil conditions. Finally, strong points of great relevance were observed, such as the question of guaranteeing food security and the exercise of social integration, which highlights the role of Family Agriculture, which, amid the contradictions and pressures of modern agriculture, persists and strengthens initiatives and social processes that point to sustainable forms of production.