Agroecological transition by family farmers and traditional populations on the frontiers of the southwestern Amazon

Abstract

The Rainforest Rescue Project promoted, between 2011 and 2016, actions to encourage agroecology
in the Tarauacá, Envira and Purus rivers in the State of Acre, based on three strategies:
i) Training of multipliers and strengthening of ATER; Ii) productive promotion and implementation
of demonstration areas of agroecological production; iii) payment of bonuses for
environmental performance.
The productive development benefited 537 families and 1,037 bonus was paid for environmental
performance. The workshops and exchanges involved 125 producers, 32 technicians
and 184 teachers, using the methodologies of the Mochila do Educador Ambiental. The interventions
provided a 17% increase in the area occupied by agroforestry systems and 38% of
the families declared to have increased their income with the diversification of the activities in
agroecological bases.
The actions resulted in changes in land use in the region, with a strengthening of food security
and important indications of an increase in family’s incomes.