Does Agroforestry Systems adoption affect land tenure rights? An analysis of rural Afro-Brazilian farmers’ perception and action

This study analyzes whether the adoption of agroforestry systems (AFS) influenced the perceived land tenure security of quilombola communities whose territories are partially or totally overlapped by a Protected Area that was re-categorized from a Park to a Sustainable Development Reserve. It is known that AFS adoption can be motived by the level of land tenure security, but the consolidation (or confirmation) period of adoption requires time for adopters to evaluate their experience with the new production system and validate its adoption. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the dynamics of consolidating the AFS after almost two decades of its incorporation into the production system of quilombola communities. Through the farmers' perceptions, this study aims to answer whether land tenure security was positively determined during the consolidation phase of the agroforestry system. The results showed that land tenure security was more shaped by community reorganization strategies to autonomously and collectively maintain their permanence in the traditionally occupied (and disputed) territories by means of associations than by the consolidation of the agroforestry system itself.