The expansion of agribusiness in Ceará semiarid region and their implications for health, work and environment

Since 2008, Brazil is the worldwide leader in pesticide’s consumption. On the other hand, looking through a public health lens, the rates of intoxication by pesticides are rising - they reached 9.000 notifications in the year of 2012 only. The present paper aims to analyze the transformations occurred in lifestyles and its implications in health, work and environment due the insertion/expansion of agribusiness in Ceará’s semiarid. For that, we adopted research-action as methodology. As method, we used the Social Cartography and non-structured interview as technique. The analysis of the qualitative material was made by discourse analysis. Through participation in workshops it could be experienced a development of a collective consciousness in the participants of this research. Through the criticism of their own reality, they were able to question and achieve a deeper knowledge about transformations that affect their own territories, as a consequence of agribusiness.

Social vulnerability; Environmental exposure; Pesticides; Rural settlements; Consumer participation