The production of family agriculture affected by mining in the Central Region of Minas Gerais and the wrong paths of rural development on a family farming basis

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the importance of the material production of family agriculture in the central region of Minas Gerais, in the municipalities of Conceição do Mato Dentro, Alvorada de Minas and Dom Joaquim, as well as the “Minas Rio” mining project, carried out by the multinational AngloAmerican since 2008, compromises the availability of resources of affected communities, interfering in rural development processes performed on a family basis. This work is the result of interdisciplinary research developed between 2015 and 2016, whose objective was to advise the organization of support to family agriculture in the region based on the characterization of affected communities. Data were collected through interviews with family production units, as well as rural development agents in the three municipalities surveyed. The results showed that, although the region is characterized by the strong presence of family agriculture, with the potential to leverage development on a sustainable basis, through rich production and traditional beneficiation processes, the mining project in the region affected access to natural resources, especially water resources, as well as it caused rural flight, which drastically changed the course of rural development on a sustainable and territorial basis. There is, however, an indication in the outcome of the study that families develop strategies and various ways of resisting and remaining on their land.