Políticas públicas para o desenvolvimento rural sustentável em ambientes de montanha no Brasil e na Argentina

Abstract

The mountains occupy, approximately, a fourth of the earth's surface. The mountain environments are the direct basis of livelihood of almost 12% of the world population, and provide basic goods and services to more than 50% of humanity. Among the Nation Members which established MERCOSUR, only Brazil and Argentina are in the list of twenty countries with the largest mountain areas of the planet. Despite the large extension and representativeness that the mountain areas occupy in Argentina and Brazil, public actions directed to these regions are incipient. These policies generally do not consider the particularities of mountain environments. In this context, the exception is Argentina's experience of institutional policy, the Comité para el Desarrollo Sustentable de las Regiones Montañosas (CDSM-Argentina) that may contribute to the Brazilian public policy directed to mountain environments. This is because the main objective of the CDSM-Argentina is to be an instance of articulation and discussion of strategies to facilitate joint work in mountain environments of Argentina. Alongside this context, many countries recommend programs to encourage agroforestry, rural tourism, agrifood territorial designations, and payment for environmental services, for the promotion of sustainable rural development in mountain environments. Considering this universe, the general aim of this thesis was to evaluate conditions for the aforementioned programs viabilityin the reality of the Brazilian hillside family farmers; and which socioeconomic issues make them to choose, or not, these new economic activities in the mountain environments. The specific objectives were to analyze whether the Brazilian public policy, focusing on public policy and institutional actions, promote sustainable rural development in the mountain environments; and if the Argentine experience of CDSM-Argentina is adaptable to application in the Brazilian circumstances. Methods used included survey and critical analysis of secondary data, documentary research, systematic observation and recording, as well as interviews. In Brazil, the case study was carried out in the buffer zone of the Três Picos State Park, in the district of Campo do Coelho, Nova Friburgo municipality, State of Rio de Janeiro. It was concluded that the conditioningsfor the Brazilian rural farmersin the hillsidesto undertake new activities in their properties are: the agricultural history and environmental history of the region; cultural and socio-economic profile of the farmers; and the farmer's perception about the public actions. Public actions and institutional policies in Brazil, in general, do not promote sustainable rural development in the mountain environments. Organizations of power, taking as example the CDSM-Argentina, can be catalysts and promoters of public actions fostering sustainable economic activities in Brazil. The rescue of agri-environmental and cultural history of mountain environments might be the base-building for activities related to rural tourism and agrifood territorial designations. In Brazil and Argentina the public initiatives for payment of environmental services and agroforestry systems in mountain environments require major advances in their establishment. The dialogue "family farmer hillside - public authority" is necessary in order to apply adequate public policies successfully.