Pluriactivity and Sustainability in Rural Communities of Semiarid Northeast

Abstract

The rural environment and Brazilian agriculture have been showing an intense process of transformations in recent decades. These changes have generated many debates in political, economic and academic circles, among which there is the notion of pluriactivity, a recent term for the family farmer that, residing in rural areas, combines agricultural activities with non-agricultural activities as a way to supplement the family income. The research sought to analyze how the pluriactivity is presented in rural communities of semiarid northeast and how this practice interferes in the social, economic and ecological sustainability of the communities studied. To achieve this goal, the dialectical method was used as the scientific method, and semi-structured interviews with representatives of local government agencies and the pluriactive families of the communities were used as methodological procedures. Inside the semiarid northeastern scenario, the empirical references of the study were three rural communities in the municipality of Brejinho/PE: Sítio Caldeirão, Sítio Lagoa dos Campos and Vila de Fátima. The analysis of the results indicates that the pluriactivity has a key role in social, economic and environmental sustainability of the communities surveyed. However, it cannot be considered as the solution to rural problems, as many families in the semiarid region still have their social and economic reproduction threatened, and soils in the process of degradation. Thus, many challenges remain to be overcome to achieve a sustainable semiarid region.