Juventude e agroecologia no assentamento Celso Furtado em Quedas do Iguaçu – PR: resistências e contradições

Abstract

The youth of the Celso Furtado settlement, located in the municipality of Quedas do Iguaçu, in the state of Paraná, reproduce agroecological principles and practices. However, this reproduction is uneven and contradictory, since agroecology among the youth of the settlement presents both advances and strong limitations. The methodological procedures for preparing this research consisted of accessing and analyzing a bibliographic reference, documents and field data. Data collection lasted 20 days, during which it was possible to spend time with the youth of the settlement, applying 40 questionnaires and conducting 20 interviews to prepare a field diary. Representatives of state, regional and municipal public and private entities were also interviewed. With the data collected in the field, the results were analyzed and discussed based on the bibliographic basis that deals mainly with youth and agroecology. A process of distancing from collective struggles and the MST was noted among the youth, which was unfavorable to agroecology. This distancing is the result of actions by hegemonic forces from local agribusiness, as well as from the State, based on the dismantling of rural schools, the introduction of projects linked to agribusiness that encouraged the use of pesticides, the lack of marketing channels and financing for production, among other issues. These actions constituted obstacles and limits to the development of agroecology in the Celso Furtado settlement. However, despite the strong limitations of agroecological practice among the young people in the settlement, there is a potential for resistance by the youth to the hegemonic actions of local agribusiness. Motivated by the knowledge acquired during the process of formation and consolidation of the settlement, the young people have a “social heritage” built mainly on their history of struggles in the MST, which positively favors resistance in environmental, social and economic aspects, especially agroecology, on the conquered land. It was observed that only one young person, out of the 40 interviewed, works in agroecology, his history linked to the MST and is not seen as a positive example for other young people, but as someone who is alone “fighting against the tide”. In order to change the scenario of discouragement towards agroecology among the young people in the settlement, strong state action is needed to favor agroecology through public policies, such as public Ater in partnership with social movements, such as the MST, mainly universities, associations, entities, unions, etc. This state action is necessary so that the young people in the settlement can understand that agroecology constitutes a positive path from an environmental, social and economic point of view.