Participatory system of local indicators of sustainable agriculture: the case of Minas Gerais Brazil

Agricultural systems are critical to food production, as they ensure the vital needs of people in the world more than any other segments. According to the United Nations, by the year 2050, 68% of the world's population will live in urban areas, and this will include the expansion of cities, population growth, increased per capita consumption, restrictions on land use and human needs for food. Thus, for Sustainable Development (SD), there is an urgent need for public policies integrated with infrastructure, social services and environmental links. Brazil is a good example of a large country, where agriculture plays an important role in the national economy. However, for this potential, it is inevitable that sustainable agriculture is addressed in depth and frequently. Public policies are being applied locally, but to be successful, it is important to engage farmers in the process. The main objective of this paper is to analyze family farmers’ perceptions of sustainable agriculture and the current Agroecosystem Sustainability Indicators (ISA) system of the Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária de Minas Gerais (EPAMIG) based on their knowledge and experiences. The research is based on an initial study in urban and rural farming units with farmers in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (RMBH). The methodology was described in the combination of deductive and inductive actions for the specific objectives: i). Analyze farmers’ perception of the existing sustainability indicators system used in public policies in Minas Gerais - Brazil; ii). Identify, in the local context, indicators proposed by farmers for voluntary assessment and monitoring of sustainable agricultural practices. The results obtained and discussed enabled contributions to support the formulation of public policies, as well as non-formal indicators considered by stakeholders, appropriate for sustainable agriculture, according to the local reality.