Farm Knowledge Co-Production at an Old Amazonian Frontier: Case of the Agroforestry System in Tomé-Açu, Brazil

This paper addresses how co-producing knowledge can assist local farmers in reshaping their territories into sustainable farming systems. We describe the emergence and consolidation of an agroforestry system in an Eastern Amazon forest frontier, unpacking the co-production of a new farming system over recent decades. Instead of assuming pre-defined categories (e.g., traditional/technical, local/external), the analysis focuses on interactions among knowledge holders and how multiple knowledge sources are intercalated. The analysis is based on long-term ethnographic research, comprising of over 70 interviews, visits to 40 farm fields, and participation in several local meetings and four annual seminars. The agroforestry system – locally called SAFTA – has emerged from a farming crisis experienced by mid-scale farmers of Japanese descent. Grounded in traditional Amazonian farming practices, SAFTA has been enriched by scientific and organizational knowledge from various sources to become a local solution that reconciles economic, social and environmental demands. Built on a few basic principles, this new farm system enables flexibility in crop field designs according to each farmer’s preferences and available resources. SAFTA knowledge has spilled over to other farmer groups and has helped develop an innovative agroforestry system for oil-palm cultivation. The SAFTA model has been consolidated, legitimized by a range of national and international actors, and gradually institutionalized in policy and commercial circles. This case sheds light on the potential of knowledge co-production to transform complex rural landscapes featuring cultural diversity, asymmetrical relationships and history of land-use change. Analysis of social interactions and knowledge integration mechanisms give insight into how co-production under local cultural diversity and asymmetrical relations may yield mutual benefits among local farmer groups.