Agroecology. Rural Settlements. Participative Certification.

In this thesis work, we analyze the process of expansion of Agroecology in the state of Alagoas in agrarian reform territories. The study involved the systematisation of a territorial strategy for the creation of a Guarantee Participatory System (GPS) where families were settled. These changes in the regime of land use and ownership have meant an increase in the amount and in the diversity of food produced in the agrosystems, above all when socioproductive experiences are deeply rooted in the agroecological principles. The objective of this work is to describe and analyze the socio-territorial process of creation of the GPS Bem Viver in the context of agrarian reform settlements in the state of Alagoas. The study area comprisedthe settlements of Flor do Bosque, Dom Helder Câmara, Zumbi dos Palmares, Sebastião Gomes and Fidel Castro, respectively situated in these towns: Messias, Murici, Branquinha, Flexeiras and Joaquim Gomes. It is an interdisciplinary research, associated with the action-research method and the peasant-to-peasant method. As data collection instruments, a process of systematization of experiences was used, five semi-structured questionnaires were applied, in addition to records in the field diary and collection of secondary data on food production in lots of the Dom Hélder Câmara and Flor do Bosque settlements. The results show that the families inserted in the agroecological and organic based production are responsible for a diversity productivity increase of 48% in Flor do Bosque and 39% in Dom Helder Câmara. In both cases, we noticed the presence of families that do not have yet the legal land possession, but have already an organic and agroecological production. This is particularly important because it directly involves the unfoldings of peasant territorialization in these settlements. Finally, the characteristic of organic production carried out within the scope of the agrarian reform and experimented in the process of constituting the GPS proved to be distinct from the trend towards specialization of production and conventionalization of agriculture practiced in the globalized food market with organic certification.