O arranjo institucional do uso comunitário do Pequi (Caryocar brasiliense) no município de Japonvar/MG

Abstract

This study attempts to understand the operation of an array of public use of Pequi (Caryocar brasiliense) in the municipality of Japonvar / MG. The research used the case study method, because it is the investigation of a phenomenon that requires a contextual analysis and the use of multiple sources of evidence. Initially it presents the definition of the object of research and the methodology used in the approach. Then, it is an exercise in dialogue between the theoretical formulations on the assets and resources in common use, from the neo-institutionalist approach, the paradigm of the gift and reciprocity. A brief discussion on the concept of development and sustainable use of natural resources in common ownership schemes has the theoretical part of work. In the next chapter proceeds to a consideration of the socioeconomic environment in which the case study is included. Finally, there is an analysis of the mechanisms that the population of Japonvar uses to regulate the system of public use of pequi in its territory. The hypothesis that guided the research derived from the arguments of Elinor Ostrom, ie that there is no single solution to problems of common, demonstrating that the experience of Japonvar, today, reflects the combination of a logic with a customary institutional apparatus. It appeared that the case studied is a genuine experience of community access to pequi, combining culturally acceptable practice, the paradigm of the gift and the market mechanism. The establishment and work of the Cooperative of Collectors of Pequi indicate the search for improving the array of community and recreational way of life based on cooperation and reciprocity.