Socio-environmental vulnerability and health in schools in the context of agribusiness¹

Abstract

This study sought to understand how students from rural and urban schools identify elements of socio-environmental vulnerability in the school environment, in the context of agribusiness, in the cities of Campo Novo do Parecis, Sapezal and Campos de Júlio, Mato Grosso, Brazil. A participatory mapping was conducted by the design of processes and protective and destructive elements to life in the school environment. The most cited processes and protective elements were school, trees and agricultural activities near schools, the production of cereals and cotton, and the generation of jobs. However, the spraying of pesticides in the plantation areas near the schools was the destructive process predominantly listed. These elements make up the relationships and processes of social and environmental vulnerability of the students and the populations involved in these schools. The contradictory facets (protective and destructive) evidenced on agricultural production demonstrate a political dynamics of dispute of the narrative about the positive socio-sanitary-environmental impact of agribusiness and the use of pesticides. The construction of the maps has proved to be a tool that can contribute to the recognition of socio-environmental vulnerabilities and enhance the participation of the people in the surveillance process in health and environment.

Keywords:
Socio-Environmental Vulnerability; Agribusiness; Pesticides; Participatory Mapping