Networking the Dialogue of Ways of Knowing for sustainable development of Agroecological Agroforestry Systems in Southern Brazil

Abstract

One of the objectives of the Network of Agroecological Agroforestry Systems of Southern Brazil
(SAFAS) is to propose actions to overcome the constraints on the sustainable development
of agroforestry. For this we use participatory methodologies that were applied in workshops
and meetings to construct knowledge, which the literature calls “Dialogue among Ways of
Knowing”. To this end we held collective fieldwork training sessions, seed fairs, research syntheses
and networking dialogues among decision makers. The main constraints on SAFAS we
identified were: infrastructure for processing and logistics of commercialization, environmental
legislation, lack of local organizing capacity, and technical assistance with insufficient awareness
of agroforestry. Thus, we propose transformative actions including the strengthening
of organizational capacity, training with farmers as protagonists and networking process with
awareness raising among actors that influence the agroforestry development.