This dissertation describes and analyzes, through a case study, agricultural and extractive
practices performed by riverine communities in the Queimada Island, in the municipality of
Afuá, State of Pará, Brazil. The objective is to understand and highlight the articulation of
riverine family farming and management of natural resources, through which they seek their
physical and social reproduction as Amazonian autonomous peasant communities. We studied
three family units of production, whose practices on their small agricultural fields and
extractive activities on açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.), express local economic rules, which co-
exist within hegemonic market economy. Participant and direct observation and open-ended
interviews during their daily activities allowed us to record the history of the areas and gave
us details about their productive decision-making processes. We also examined the historical
and geographical contexts and the social relationships within and among the studied
households. The intensification of market demands for açaí promoted not only interference on
families’ relations to land, but also on the natural resource management. Despite these
interferences, the articulation of farming and extractive activities promoted the diversification
of their agricultural slash-and-burn fields, with varied combination of species throughout the
seasons. Above all, the results show that, although extraction of açaí became more visible due
to regional, national and international market demands, many less visible agricultural
practices also ensure the autonomy of this Amazonian peasants community.
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