Conservation agriculture, forestry and agro-forestry systems in rural-local sustainable development at Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

This article deals with socioeconomic alternatives for rural áreas in Brazil, considering new concepts and practices that indicate relevant transformations in the use of natural resources in agriculture and those from the forests, from the perspective of agroecology and a rural-local sustainable development . It is based on research about experiences on conservation agriculture (CA), on agroforestry from an agroecological perspective, as well as formulations about these new socioenvironmental practices and socioeconomic and political and institutional relationships developed through them, and their role for agriculture and forestry. The main objective is to highlight relevant experiences about CA and agroforestry showing that major changes are already undergoing concerning the use of natural resources in family farming production systems in order to guarantee their economic and social reproduction. This discussion is associated with the local development approach as an alternative for the implementation of those new activities and the recovery of natural resources, promoting changes in land use and biodiversity while encouraging viable processes of rural-local and sustainable development in rural áreas.