ABSTRACT

Forest and traditional cultures are threatened by agricultural expansion in the Dry–Chaco region of Argentina, where sustainable farming systems have scarcely been documented. Combining peasant and academic knowledge, we have addressed a distinctive peasant agroecosystem, describing multiple dimensions and analyzing sustainability processes in three nested scales: farm subsystems, the farm as a system, and farm links with its social–ecological context. Key synergies between management and natural assets conservation are revealed in detail, as well as productive activities (7) and species (75), of which their ecology and possible uses (43) are well known. This allows high productivity and self-sufficiency levels that account for most of the family economy, the majority of which is non–monetary and not linked to cash crop farming. Strong links to community, peasant organizations, NGO´s and public institutions help to manage and deal with external threats. However, public policy for rural infrastructure does not always contemplate peasants as inhabitants of the region. Traditional knowledge enables sustainable use of the Chaco forest. Nevertheless, additional support from other stakeholders would appear to be a necessary requirement in order to harness the potential of locally based peasant farming in the current threatened context.

摘要

森林和传统文化受到阿根廷干查科地区农业扩张的威胁，那里的可持续农业系统几乎没有记录。结合农民和学术知识，我们讨论了一个独特的农民农业生态系统，在三个嵌套尺度上描述了多个维度并分析了可持续性过程：农场子系统、农场作为一个系统以及农场与其社会生态背景的联系。详细揭示了管理与自然资产保护之间的关键协同作用，以及生产活动 (7) 和物种 (75)，其生态学和可能的用途 (43) 是众所周知的。这使得占家庭经济大部分的高生产力和自给自足水平成为可能，其中大部分是非货币性的，与经济作物种植无关。与社区、农民组织、非政府组织和公共机构的紧密联系有助于管理和应对外部威胁。然而，农村基础设施的公共政策并不总是将农民视为该地区的居民。传统知识使查科森林的可持续利用成为可能。尽管如此，其他利益相关者的额外支持似乎是必要的要求，以便在当前受威胁的背景下利用当地农民农业的潜力。