Segurança alimentar e produção agrícola em área suscetível à desertificação: um estudo no município de Humberto de Campos, Maranhão, Brasil

Abstract

The Food and Nutrition Safety has been theme of discussions at the national and global levels, as these issues are essential requirements for the promotion and maintenance of health having to support family farming, which plays a key role in maintaining food security levels of underserved populations. This way, issues relating to inappropriate farming techniques and crop could affect food production and cause environmental changes, among them, the process of desertification. This study aimed to assess food safety and means of production of farmers in an area susceptible to desertification in the city of Humberto de Campos, Maranhão. It is a cross-sectional study of qualitative and quantitative character conducted with a sample of 50 farmers, selected intentionally. One dealing questionnaire about their production and applied to farmers having as reference the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale was designed to assess the level of (in) security of the population studied. To investigate the relationship between safety/ insecurity according to socioeconomic variables, we used the man-Whitney test. The assessment of food safety profile of farmers allowed realizing that a high percentage of farmers showed some kind of food insecurity and that this condition is directly related to the absence of extra income. Regarding the profile of production, 100% use techniques in the traditional agriculture, popularly regarded as cutting-burning. In addition, 94% claim to never have taken environmental protection measures in their fields. It concludes that it is essential to establish guidelines addressing the situation of food insecurity and mitigating the effects of desertification, from encouraging family farming, based on sustainable farming practices.