A racionalidade ambiental na constru o de tecnologias alternativas para a agricultura familiar: o caso do Servi o de Tecnologia Alternativa – SERTA

Instrumental rationality built the concept of technology appropriated by the capitalist system. This has become a strategic factor for economic development and instrument of externalities control by artificial state of natural processes, creating serious social and ecological problems. However, through economic inaccessibility and due to severe environmental costs, it was necessary to build palliative mechanisms that promote the transition from the traditional technique to modern technology. In this context, the concept of alternative technologies arises and, differentiated by the emphasis on low cost and efficient use of locally abundant resources, is defined by social accessibility and ecological efficiency. This model, inspired by the environmental rationality with emphasis on supplying the needs of rural communities, has been the foundation of the actions of institutions that produce and diffuse these technologies focused on the development of family farming in Brazil. This paper presents the vision of family farmers about the difficulties encountered in the production process and the results obtained through the agency of one of these institutions, the Service of Alternative Technologies (SERTA), specifically, from the analysis of their activities in semi-arid region of Pernambuco (Brazil), in the unit located in Ibimirim-PE.