Agroecological urban agriculture from the perspective of health promotion

Abstract

Urban agriculture has been the subject of many research in Brazil and worldwide, mainly concerning the employment and income generation. This article aims to systematize the experience of the project "Colhendo Sustentabilidade: práticas comunitárias de segurança alimentar e agricultura urbana" [Achieving Sustainability: community practices of food security and urban agriculture] (PCS), held in Embu das Artes, São Paulo metropolitan region, between 2008 and 2011, analyzing it from the perspective of Health Promotion (HP). The participants of the research were the public services technicians and technical team members involved in the project. The data were obtained by conducting three workshops of systematization, followed by another in which the results were presented to the participants, and also by interviews with key informants. The same data were analyzed based on the action principles and fields of HP. The findings presented agroecological urban agriculture (AUA) as a tool for health promotion due to its contribution to the strengthening of individual and community leadership, empowerment, creation of conducive environments for health, as well as its potential for "knowledge" multiplication, by those involved in topics related to income generation, health and environment.