Conhecimento local e indicadores de sustentabilidade da produção de pequenos ruminantes na região de Itaparica, Pernambuco, Brasil

Abstract

Discussions on sustainability arise from the recognition of the "unsustainability" of the pattern of development of contemporary societies, as this standard led to the onset of economic, social, political, cultural and environmental crises. A key point in these discussions was the realization of the ECO-92 event held by the United Nations and had as an objective, to help define the sustainable development agenda for the coming decades (Agenda 21), which, more specifically in Chapter 40, deals with the development of sustainability indicators. From that point, various sectors of society intensified mobilization for adaptations of methodological proposals, effectiveness and transparency in the construction of indicators. In a local context, Pernambuco state stands out in the sheep and goat rearing system. That agricultural activity is crucial for the region because it is an alternative income source (sale of animals) and food protein quality assurance at a low cost (meat and milk), becoming one of the main productive sectors of the state, involving, directly and indirectly, thousands of people. This work aims to identify local parameters and use them as sustainability indicators of the small ruminants rearing system, according to the perception of the breeders of Itaparica Development Region, in the backlands of Pernambuco. It was used a methodological framework to capture the information on sustainability from the local knowledge of farmers in the social, technical, economic, environmental, political and cultural aspects. We visited 50 properties of farmers without irrigation (N= 29) and with irrigation (N = 21). The evaluation of the degree of sustainability was carried out following the methodology proposal by Rabelo and Lima (2007), with adaptations. Based on the results, 16 indicators arranged in 5 dimensions were identified by the interviews that characterize the sustainability of the small ruminant rearing system in the Itaparica region. In general, the degree of sustainability among the dimensions ranged from poor to medium. Based on the exploratory factor analysis, the economic indicators showed greater importance within the set, followed by politicians, indicating a necessity of a higher priority on corrective actions to improve the degree of sustainability. Increasing the level of sustainability will only be effective by involving all agents responsible for the development of goat and sheep rearing system the region within a participatory approach which will cause a right balance between human, animal and the environment.