Caracterização da criação de pequenos animais na comunidade quilombola de cocalinho no município de Santa Fé do Araguaia - TO

Abstract

The quilombola communities are formed by slave refugees who lived on family farming, through the planting of cassava, rice, beans, among other crops and also the creation of small animals. These traditional peoples have customs that were left by their ancestors, and thus maintained by their descendants, such as care for the land and productive activities in a sustainable way. Aiming to know the animal production activities developed in the quilombola community, the present work aimed to characterize the creation of small animals in the quilombola community in the municipality of Santa Fé do Araguaia - TO. The study was carried out in Cocalinho, a remaining quilombo community, through the collection of information through ethnographic research, with the application of semi-structured questionnaires, informal conversations, interviews and non-participatory observation. The approach was to compose a diagnosis of characterization of the types of livestock that they have in the community, how this creation is done from the moment of choosing the animal to the destination of the final product, among other aspects. The creation of small animals in the quilombola community, consisting of pigs and chickens raised in general with leftovers from the feed of the creators and bran and grains purchased in the region, and the destination of most of the animals is used for the consumption of the creators themselves and in a few occasions they are sold to the local trade. This activity is of great importance to the residents, as it is of great help with household expenses, contributing to food and sometimes expenses. One of the main weaknesses found is that the lack of technical support and guidance from these creators makes the creation a little precarious, which could be a source of income in the community.