Territórios que alimentam: a resistência dos assentamentos de reforma agrária frente à expansão do agronegócio no sul maranhense

Abstract

Food, or its absence, reveals deep issues in the Brazilian countryside, whose historical process incorporates new actors, economic and political contexts, reflecting in the uses of territories. This study focuses spatially on agrarian reform settlements in Southern Maranhão, specifically in the municipalities of Estreito, Porto Franco, and São João do Paraíso. Although located in MATOPIBA, a region marked by the relentless advance of agribusiness, these settlements demonstrate that resistance is not limited to land occupation but also includes food production that challenges capitalist logic. The objective of this research is to understand the dynamics of territorial use by agribusiness and peasantry, analyzing how these practices influence food production and access in agrarian reform settlements. The adopted methodology includes bibliographic research and analysis, providing theoretical support for themes such as peasantry, agribusiness and its paradigms, as well as discussions on territory, addressing its multiscalarity and multidimensionality, agri-food systems, and the transformations in food and production resulting from different territorial uses by rural actors. Secondary quantitative and qualitative data reinforce the dialogue with the literature and the information gathered in the field. As a thesis, it is argued that the settlements constitute territories of agrobiodiversity, capable of resisting the monocultures imposed by agribusiness. It is observed that families who produce on their plots reduce market dependency, ensuring a food culture based on fresh, regionally sourced foods, moving closer to food sovereignty and security. On the other hand, families facing greater difficulties in production or obtaining most of their income outside the plot are subject to a reduction in the availability of quality food, relying on products imposed by market food systems and becoming more vulnerable to food insecurity. This study stands out for its local perspective, capturing the aspects that guide food choices in agrarian reform settlements in the Southern Maranhão mesoregion.