The technical assistance, agroecological transition and environmental perception in rural family farming properties in south Bahia: a case study

Abstract

The study presents a theoretical-practical perspective on the agroecological transition and environmental perception within the scope of the technical assistance and rural extension service run by Instituto Mãe Terra, a civil society organization (OSC) that operates in the territory of the South and Extreme South of Bahia.  Consists of qualitative research, supported by a case study that involved 218 rural family farming properties assisted, covered by the Bahia Produtiva Program, of the Government of the State of Bahia. Analysis was carried out of technical assistance and rural extension actions carried out in the settlements: Associação 02 de Julho; Fruto da Terra community association; Association of Small Producers of the Milton Santos Settlement; Association of Small Rural Producers of the Chico Mendes Settlement; Guaratinga Beekeepers Association. In this work, a description of the activities carried out in the five settlements was carried out, highlighting the forms of execution, challenges and particularities of the process, as well as scores on the perception of those assisted on the activities carried out in family production units and regarding the proposed agroecological transition. The research revealed to us that technical assistance and rural extension actions are guided by the path of agroecological transition and that they contribute to the construction of a positive environmental perception. The participatory and humanist extensionist was of paramount importance.