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This study assessed the socioecological resilience of family farms in three land reform settlements in Mato Grosso, Brazil, located in the ecologically threatened Cerrado biome. Using focus groups, a household survey, and analysis of soil samples we characterized farming systems and quantified indicators of resilience, which we contextualized with a qualitative analysis of distributions of power and access to rights and resources. In Mato Grosso, where diversified agriculture is a marginal presence in an industrialized agricultural landscape, none of the communities were achieving participant-defined threshold levels of any measured indicator of resilience. However, farmers who were members of a marketing cooperative selling produce through a federal public procurement program had significantly greater agrobiodiversity, plant-available soil phosphorus, household food self-sufficiency, and access to stable markets. Our pilot study suggests that the convergence of grassroots mobilization and political-institutional change is a central leverage point for developing more resilient food systems.
