OBJECTIVE: This work describes results based on the participative and encompassing development of a model of causal determination done in six quilombola communities of Santarém, Pará State, regarding the causality of food and nutrition insecurity with the construction of the BR-163 highway. METHODS: The research process used socio-anthropological approach methods based on the development of a causality model constructed by forming focal groups with community representatives. RESULT: The results of the study show that the use of participative approaches stimulates the community's self-esteem and takes control of the factors that determine its problems. The causal model reveals that, for the communities, nutrition and food insecurity establish that historical factors associated with land ownership and current use based on predatory practices are essential to understand the causal determination of food and nutrition insecurity. CONCLUSION: Racism and its social nuances have contributed for the social invisibility of these communities in public Brazilian policies. The quilombola communities consider themselves in a state of nutritional and food insecurity and indicate that the construction of the BR-163 highway can be a threat to the sustainable ethnic development in the region. They also state that the economic development expected with the construction of this highway can increase hunger, poverty and racism if the communities do not participate.
Anthropology, cultural; African continental ancestry group; Food insecurity; Social perception; Qualitative research
