Entre a fartura e a fome : as contradições vividas pela Comunidade Quilombola Kalunga Congonhas, Goiás

Abstract

The framework of the current food system has been a precursor to the incidence of the global syndemic, a phenomenon in which climate, health, and socioeconomic crises coexist due to shared social, political, and environmental factors. In this context, the objective of this research was to describe the current food system, its relationship with the global syndemic, and how this phenomenon—through its racialized dimension affects the Quilombola Kalunga Congonhas Community’s access to the Human Right to Adequate Food and Nutrition.To this end, the methodology adopted included ethnoresearch and action research, aiming to foster the construction of decolonial knowledge. The study revealed changes in the traditional eating habits of the Congonhas social actors, which they themselves associated with factors related to the consequences of the global syndemic.The research uncovered contradictions in the way of life of the Kalunga Quilombola community of Congonhas. Despite environmental abundance and extensive traditional knowledge concerning the use of natural resources especially cultivated and wild-harvested foods, as well a medicinal plant knowledge the community continues to face recurring episodes of food and nutritional insecurity.It was observed that there is relative food abundance during certain times of the year, particularly during harvests and the rainy season. However, this abundance is neither constant nor fully utilized due to factors such as: limited access to effective public policies, geographic isolation, lack of infrastructure for storage and distribution of production, devaluation of traditional knowledge in the face of conventional production systems, and increasing dependence on industrialized foods, often at the expense of healthier and more sustainable local alternatives.Interviews and field observations indicated that the community is undergoing a process of socioeconomic and cultural transition, in which traditional subsistence modes persist but are under intense pressure from external capitalist dynamics. This results in a paradox between environmental and cultural wealth and the material poverty experienced in the daily lives of many families.Overcoming these contradictions requires recognizing the Kalunga territory as a legitimate space for the production of knowledge and food, promoting public policies that respect its specificities, and creating alternatives that strengthen the community's food sovereignty. Therefore, this research reinforces that abundance and hunger can coexist when social inequality, institutional neglect, and the devaluation of traditional ways of life prevent the territory’s potential from being translated into collective well-being.Thus, understanding and confronting these contradictions is urgent to ensure the rights of Quilombola peoples and the effective sociocultural conservation of the Cerrado.