Health Promotion, Sustainability and Agroecology: an intersectoral discussion

Abstract

When one analyses the conceptual approach in the areas of Agroecology and Health Promotion, one notices the similarities of those scientific and practical fields starting from their common guidelines: to strengthen democracy; to promote citizenship, empowerment, autonomy and community participation of their social actors; to revisit traditional and popular practices and knowledge; to promote health, quality of life and environmental, social and economic sustainability. However, in spite of their common interfaces, these two fields have not been dialoguing. Agroecology and its potential action of health promotion in the rural areas have not been discussed in the fields of Public Health and Health Promotion. In turn, these two areas of study have not produced knowledge that can contribute to Agroecology, as a health promotion strategy. This article intends to emphasize the relationship between those two fields of studies, exploring them theoretically. Besides, the article presents Agroecology as an intersectoral strategy of health promotion, sustainability and food safety.