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As the context of our project, the phrase ‘EcoSol-agroecology’ indicates a convergence between
agroecology and solidarity economy, in the sense of constructing solidaristic short food-supply chains (henceforth called circuitos curtos).
Analytical questions:
The project originally attempted to investigate two main questions:
• How do EcoSol-agroecology networks develop collective capacities for solidaristic circuitos curtos?
• How can action-research help to identify and strengthen those capacities?
With the Covid-19 pandemic we added more questions, for example:
• How do these networks extend or transform their previous practices?
• How do they overcome obstacles, construct learning and conceive new strategies?
• How do they transform difficulties into opportunities?
Methods
Originally we planned in-person workshops to investigate our research questions through various cultural methods (e.g. narratives, art, social cartography, music, etc.). Due to the pandemic, however, we had to postpone that plan. We have organised activities on-line and found information sourcesthere: technical reports, institutional films, seminars and webinars; newspaper articles (some written by or with our research partners).
Baixada Santista, Brazil
For this case study, UNESP has as a partner: the Baixada Santista Solidarity Economy Forum ( FESBS ).
Before the pandemic
In Baixada Santista, the EcoSol-agroecology networks emerged from a network movement to consolidate the Solidarity Economy in the region. This initiative involved a process of training managers, the struggle for the establishment of public policies for EcoSol and the debate on perspectives for productive inclusion, especially for the vulnerable population, promoted by the Forum for Solidarity Economy of Baixada Santista (FESBS). This set of initiatives strengthened the movement and enabled the establishment of networks.
Before the pandemic, the former Integral Technical Assistance Coordination ( CATI ) had been developing, with support from FESBS, the Microbacias II Program (Acesso ao Mercados, 2011-18). Its objective was to increase competitiveness and improve the quality of life of family farmers, especially indigenous communities. Using a constructivist methodology, the strategy maximized participation, respecting sociocultural identities, developing Ethnodevelopment Plans for villages and a business plan for family farmers. In three cities in the Baixada Santista, indigenous villages were awarded with self-managed agroecological development projects. These communities have been improving to manage their productive initiatives, such as agroforestry systems, sustainable fish farming and community-based tourism.
During the pandemic
During the pandemic, FESBS promoted a series of lectures, conferences, conversation circles that became the space for the continuous training of managers, partners and leaders of solidarity economic initiatives. In addition, some of these activities, such as a seminar on agroecology and solidarity economy in the context of the pandemic, were carried out with the support and involvement of the AgroEcos project. In these activities, the various partners discuss their experiences: collective sales, cooperative organization, democratic self-management, support from city halls and strategies. Thus, participants can strengthen their practices and inspire other places and groups.
During this period, several small solidarity networks in the Baixada Santista were formed or strengthened. Therefore, the Solidarity Economy Forum has become a nucleus of socio-cultural construction based on different forms of proximity and reciprocity. As an example, there is the Farmer's Fair in Peruíbe organized by the EcoSol Women Producers Union ( UMPES ); this solidarity network has spread the idea of 'Building a new reality'. In Itanhaém, the Association of Rural Producers of the Rio Branco Microbasin (AMIBRA), which is also configured as a solidarity network, has been supported through the Banco de Alimentos , which buys fruits and vegetables from family farming and distributes them to people in situations of social vulnerability, as well as to increase school meals.
The pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus made it difficult to articulate the short circuits of production and consumption. However, the solidary relationships of proximity (organizational, institutional, purpose and geographic) in Baixada Santista, they promoted the strengthening of solidarity networks with innovative solutions such as delivery of food by order for pick up by individual transport (cars) or deliveries through ecobiker cooperatives that favored the direct trade.
In Santos, the network free Conscious Consumers is a good example. It is a platform that connects production, delivery and consumption under the principles of solidarity economy. It works with a network of producers and consumers of products without pesticides and without capitalist middlemen. This initiative offers the option of picking up the food basket directly at headquarters or receiving the basket at home (especially by ecobikers).
In Peruíbe, the baskets are assembled in the fair's space, before deliveries. Subsequently, the financial resource is distributed to producers and deliverers according to criteria established collectively. Thus, the participants make decisions in a democratic way. In addition to sales, city halls, NGOs and solidarity networks organized donations to socially vulnerable people through the PAA, the National School Feeding Program (PNAE) and the Food Bank.
In addition to the initiatives to promote EcoSol-agroecology networks, FESBS has positioned itself as an inductor of public policies. Several debates were held with candidates for elected municipal positions and a Letter with the main proposals for a municipal solidarity economy program.
To learn more: the page Facebook , AgroEcos Webinar , and Conversation wheels
NRJ Silva et al., Activate proximities to build solidarity economy, Folha Santista, 29 July 2020.
Bocaina, Costa Verde, Brazil
The Observatory of Sustainable and Healthy Territories of Bocaina ( OTSS ) is a program of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in partnership with the Forum of Traditional Communities of Angra, Paraty and Ubatuba ( FCT ).
Before the pandemic: territorial defense and agroforestry systems
In the region of Bocaina, traditional communities face numerous territorial conflicts due to real estate speculation, large projects and predatory tourism. At the same time, their traditional agricultural, extractive and fishing practices are criminalized by the Conservation Units created by the State overlying their territories, incisively impacting the cultural system of these peoples.
Despite the adverse context, these populations have been resisting the expropriation and devaluation of their ways of life and demanding public policies that can reconcile nature conservation with the permanence of communities and their traditional practices. In 2007, the FCT emerged from the union between different Quilombola, Indigenous and Caiçara peoples to face threats experienced by the communities. In 2009, FCT established a partnership with Fiocruz based on shared management and living governance and thus created the OTSS.
From the dialogue of traditional knowledge and technical knowledge and weaving a network of partners, the OTSS works in the construction and application of social technologies, such as agroecology and Community-Based Tourism (TBC). In 2012, the FCT starts the Juçara Project, an action with the objective of generating family income through the sustainable management of palm fruits. The pulp sold in a short circuit system reached the final consumer directly. In 2014, the campaign 'Preserve é Resistir' was launched, aiming to shed light on the theme of socio-environmental justice and guarantee the collective rights of traditional communities in their territories.
During the pandemic: community exchanges
In view of the impacts caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the FCT created the 'Caring is to Resist' campaign, aiming to reduce the vulnerability of traditional communities that already lack effective public policies. Solidarity actions sought to maintain food and nutritional security, distributing food baskets with healthy foods from family farmers and artisanal fishermen. With the reduction in tourism in the region, there was an increase in traditional agriculture and fishing activities during this period. The exchange of seeds, seedlings and agro-ecological products between the communities was also intensified, had the logistical support of the FCT and gained more visibility. The communities reinforce the importance of ensuring that the masters, griôs and shamans, guardians of memory and ancestral knowledge, transmit their legacy to the youth. Traditional communities keep many practices alive, especially the sustainable management of nature, community ties, collective work efforts and exchanges in short circuits. They are increasingly seen as the most appropriate way to organize the production system within the principles of a solidary economy.
To learn more: the page Facebook ; AgroEcos Webinar about Bocaina; you videos in the series 'Caring is to Resist', FCT Solidarity Network.
Valle Central, Tarija, Bolivia
In Tarija, the Comunidad de Estudio Jaina (CEJ) collaborates with agroecological producers from Bioferia and rural communities.
Before the pandemic: direct sales at Bioferia
For many years, Bioferia has linked the sellers, who are at the same time producers, with their agroecological practices from various peasant communities in the Valle Central de Tarija. Sellers recover traditional plants and crops, transforming them and promoting the products to consumers. Thus, women generate income, mainly from the sale of vegetables and processed products. This weekly fair was organized over 20 years ago by rural women who decided to call it Bioferia. During all this time, producers have developed collective capacities to self-manage the fair, as well as inform consumers about agroecological practices and their wide-ranging benefits. During 2019 the sellers discussed measures to improve their points of sale, especially to protect the products. This happened with the facilitation of CEJ. However, this planning was interrupted by the pandemic.
During the pandemic: Cestas Campesinas as a new proximity relationship
Since the beginning of social distancing in March, peasant women have not been able to safely transport their products to the city for many reasons. In this way, different actors built a new system, the 'Canastas Campesinas Alantuya', based on four principles: fresh agroecological products directly from the producer to the consumer; safe handling in handling, transport and distribution; fair price and solidary commerce country-city; and, local commerce for a proximity economy.
This mechanism was built step by step from the beginning. At first, a councilor from Tarija asked for personal help in buying fresh food to take to a group of families with disabilities. Using a van from the city hall, they coordinated with the women of Bioferia who live in the community of Saladillo to prepare 20 baskets of vegetables, at a standard price. It was a new skill to assemble each bag with the same product composition, but diversified and balanced to meet the complete nutritional needs of families (as instructed by a nutritionist). The councilor paid for the baskets upon delivery, which became another central principle of the new model. These deliveries initially served people with disabilities who could not move elsewhere.
It was then decided to open doorstep sales to the city's public. Thus, a link to
join a WhatsApp group called Canastas Campesinas. In response, the group of people interested in knowing exactly what this mechanism was about was quickly filled, as some thought it was a free government basket and others thought it was a commercial service from some private intermediary provider. These responses led the volunteers to discuss the objectives of the solidary supply system, clarifying that it is based on solidary volunteering, facilitated by the institutional responsibility of Jaina and the municipality of Tarija. Despite many difficulties, this system was eventually extended to several other nearby communities to provide the baskets on a rotating basis to consumers in Tarija.
Direct selling facilitates the attempt to raise awareness among urban consumers about the origin of food, as well as about the productive characteristics of the geographic space that surrounds the city. Each group provides information about the community, its agroecological characteristics, its distance, etc. Many people receive products that they are not always used to eating or do not know how to use them in food, so the food information had to be passed on to certain products. People even shared some recipes for their preparation and consumption in the WhatsApp group. It was very interesting to note that buyers had a collaborative attitude.
In short, as a result of this articulation, new solidary intermediaries have been building close relationships between agroecological producers and conscientious and solidary consumers, the latter being able to acquire and exchange knowledge to sustain solidary relationships.
To learn more: Canastas Campesinas Alantuya: page Facebook
AgroEcos Seminar , 'Other economies, solidarity short circuits and agrobiodiversity'
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