Beyond the shade: Family farmers’ perceptions of silvopastoral systems in the Amazon

Abstract

This exploratory study examines the efforts of family farmers in the Brazilian Amazon to establish silvopastoral systems that integrate trees, pasture, and cattle in the same area. These systems offer an alternative to conventional livestock rearing prac­tices that remain the primary source of income for many impoverished families, and yet are also major drivers of ecological degradation, with far-reaching regional and global climate impacts. Using a quali­tative case study approach, we conducted in-depth interviews with 17 small­holder families living in zones of rapid soybean expansion to identify the factors that support and constrain the adoption of silvopastoral systems. Our analysis highlights six issues that emerged from farmers’ accounts: the cultural dominance of monoculture agriculture; experiences of ecological problems associated with conventional agriculture; community-based alterna­tives to dominant agricultural practices; relation­ships between farmers and technicians involved in silvo­pastoral implementation; emerging farmer insights on ecological dynamics and biodiverse livestock systems; and the material limits of these innova­tions. Taken together, these findings advance four key arguments relevant to efforts to build alterna­tives to environmentally damaging food-produc­tion regimes. First, historical settle­ment patterns, long-standing socio-economic exclusion, and the cultural domi­nance of conven­tional agriculture continue to bind many smallhold­ers to conven­tional livestock systems despite their declining ecological and economic viability. Second, com­munity networks and non­govern­mental organi­za­tional (NGO) initiatives grounded in Freirean par­­ticipatory pedagogy can create openings for cooperation, dialogical learning, and the pro­duction of situated silvopastoral knowledge. Third, these socio-technical relations foster new practices through which farmers revalue bio­diversity as both an ecological and economic asset. Fourth, the adoption of silvopastoral systems remains limited by labor demands, knowledge and skill require­ments, and initial environmental condi­tions that slow system establishment.