Experience of Rural Sustainability in the Brazilian Northeast

The purpose of this work is to analyze the knowledge relationships that are articulated in projects of maintainable rural development construction for the semiarid region in the Northeast of Brazil, analyzing the farmers' daily practices and their relationship with the technological practices spread by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). From the constant mutual questioning between theory and field data, the analysis focused on understanding how farmers appropriate new knowledge and how to interact with them. In methodological terms, it was considered feasible to place the knowledge interaction between the farmers and technicians from NGOs by placing the analysis according to Paulo Freire's questioning (2006): extension or communication? The study revealed that the interaction of knowledge was structured in a dialogical and communicative relationship, with the perspective not only of the implementation of technologies more adapted to the semi-arid reality but also of the principles of participation and organization of the farmers to strengthen family farming in both the local bond as well as in the local-regional relationship.