Social organization and organic production in agroecological Land Reform territories in the state of Alagoas

Abstract

The organization of families settled to constitute an Organic Quality Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) evidences the territorial character and the organizational diversity of this methodology aimed at assessing organic compliance. The current study was carried out in two Land Reform settlements from the state of Alagoas, which have settled families working in the Agroecology and organic production field and that, since 2019, have been part of a state-level articulation to formalize an Organic Compliance Participatory Assessment Body (OCPAB). In order to develop the paper, the action-research method was adopted, and information collection instruments were used, such as a semi-structured questionnaire and a field diary. The results evidenced that there are local participatory certification groups in the Land Reform context. They can consist exclusively of families from the same settlement or include other settlements in the proximities and they can also be comprised by families officially regularized or not in the settlement. In other words, the PGS allows the groups to create their own territorial organization logic. And, in these terms, the territory evidences the material and immaterial aspect of the peasants' connection with the land, represented by the symbology in the choice of names for the groups and also in welcoming families that still intend to gain legal possession of the land. Our study also evidenced the differential of the Federal Brazilian legislation that deals with organic agriculture, especially for having created three compliance assessment mechanisms that expand the possibilities to include family agriculture in this context and for adapting organic production to the different realities of the territories.