Do quilombo ao mercado: um estudo da pluriatividade na sustentabilidade da comunidade quilombola de Ivaporunduva, SP

Abstract

In quilombola communities, pluriactivity has been used as a strategy for social, economic and environmental reproduction. The general objective of the research was to study the pluriactivity of the Ivaporunduva quilombola community and its relationship with the market, as a way to maintain tradition and sustainability in the quilombo. The selected study area was Quilombo Ivaporunduva, located in Vale do Ribeira, São Paulo, Brazil. The methodology was based on primary and secondary data and qualitative research, through semi-structured interview and form, applied to 13 quilombola producers. The results showed by the social, economic and environmental profile of the Ivaporunduva quilombola community that it has sought the path of sustainability in its activities. With the title, there were direct and indirect benefits for the community, such as the right to use the land, security and access to projects, and environmental benefits, such as the right to have a more preserved environment, with the removal of third parties from quilombola territory and the reduction of deforestation, and environmental autonomy. The community is using the pluriactivity strategy, with the diversification of its agricultural commercials activities (organic banana and pupunha palm) and non-agricultural activities (handicrafts, sweets and tourism), that has resulted in an increase in income, economic autonomy and the promotion of higher quality of life. Of the 13 quilombola producers interviewed, 60% are pluriactives. Young people of Ivaporunduva have gone out to study and have returned to the quilombo to work in the community itself. With organic certification, there was a greater appreciation of the quilombola product. Artisans use the concept of sustainability in their mode of production, with full use of the banana tree as raw material. Regarding the relationship with the market, in institutional markets, currently the production of organic bananas have served the municipal governments of São Paulo and Santo André through the PNAE, but the community has suffered from the increase competition for public notices between associations and cooperatives in the state of São Paulo. It is concluded that the Ivaporunduva community is pluriactive and is looking for the sustainability of the quilombola culture, through the pluriactivity strategy, with the permanence of the young people in the quilombo and a coexistence with their traditional subsistence agriculture.