“Buscando construir sustentabilidade”: o caso dos agricultores familiares do município de Alagoa Nova-PB, participantes da feira agropecuária de Campina Grande-PB/FEAGRO/CG.

Abstract

This work aims to analyze how peasants from the municipality of Alagoa Nova, involved in the Feira Agropecuária de Campina Grande – FEAGRO/CG, have been achieving sustainability in the trading process. Also, it describes their life trajectory before and after their engaging in this commercial venture which has presented specificities in trading agricultural products, besides verifying the changes occurred between these peasants concerning sustainability and their life quality. The analyses carried out in this study were based on theoretical approaches related to peasantry and sustainability build-up in different dimensions: economic, social, cultural, environmental, geographic, politico-institutional, and ethical. To carry out the field research, we conducted a total of 29 (twenty-nine) semistructured interviews with peasants and people involved in FEAGRO. A qualitative/quantitative methodology was used to achieve the study objectives. The results showed that the peasants have been searching for sustainability - economic, socio-cultural, geographic, environmental, and ethic – by improving their „life quality‟ and building autonomy. This can be clearly noticed in direct trading of their farming products, eliminating the figure of brokers in diversifying production, adding value to the products from their production units, using organic agriculture, and accomplishing other trading activities. However, with regard to the political-institutional sustainability issue, the FEAGRO peasants have not achieved political and participative awareness crucial to build autonomy.