When the peasant see, he believes: multiplying the knowledge of Coffee Farms of Alto Rio Pardo

Abstract

Shaded coffee has a great cultural and economic importance, mainly for family farmers and
traditional people (geraizeiros) at Alto Rio Pardo region, north of the state of Minas Gerais,
Brazil (transition between semi-arid (caatinga) and Brazilian savanna´s biomes). Shaded coffee
are diverse systems of tree production, where coffee is the main specie and has existed for
more than 100 years. From the development actions promoted by the Brazilian Government,
specially related with eucalyptus monocultures in the highlands, the traditional production systems
were unstructured. The objective of the present report is to present a traditional knowledge
experience based on activities developed by family farmers / geraizeiros in order to promote
the resumption of shaded coffee farms to strengthen their economy and to promote the
agro-extractivist reconversion of regional highland using “peasant-to-peasant” Methodology.