Principles and applications of participatory research in Agroecology

Abstract

Participatory Research is an important tool for Agroecology, since it presupposes a systemic approach, contextualized problems and capacity to generate processes of local development, characteristics required by the construction of agroecological knowledge. The results of the Participatory Research are, in general, easy to access and have low costs, promoting autonomy, equity and environmental sustainability to agroecosystems. There are few cases where the application of participatory research are observed in Brazil. In the few situations in which this occurs, there is still a lack of methodology, which may compromise efficiency. Aiming to broaden the discussion about the application of participatory research in Agroecology, some principles, models and examples are presented and discussed, in addition to some general considerations. The limits on participation in research are also discussed.