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The present extension action consisted of developing, together with the families associated with the Association of Parents and Friends of the Exceptional - APAE of the Curitibanos city, a work of recovery and construction of urban gardens with the objective of improving the food security conditions of these families. After a year of work, we observed signifi cant advances in the relationship between families and work in the gardens, as well as identifying that these initiatives were replicated.

This paper offers an approach to Yucatecan social reality in terms of entrepreneurship and the process of creating companies dedicated to the production and/or commercialization of agroecological products, considering its contribution to sustainable rural development. The key actors’ perspective towards the existence of policies that favor land sustainability, assist in the development of rural areas and their population, and support these business initiatives is also presented. Likewise, it illustrates the small entrepreneurs’ standpoint on the role of public institutions in promoting wealth generation and sustainable development in lower growth areas, such as the state of Yucatan, in Mexico. A qualitative methodology was used for this research, based on in-depth interviews with a group of businessmen and -women from the region. The main results give a pessimistic view of institutional concern regarding both production and consumption of agroecological products and, therefore, the promotion of these enterprises for the socioeconomic development of Yucatan. From these findings, we detect: (a) A policy of scarce support for this type of production, due to political priorities; (b) inadequate management that prevents the consolidation of certain structures needed to support agroecological enterprises; (c) a lack of confidence in the Yucatecan government, which does not promote or support a social network of collaboration between agroecological producers and marketers; (d) a difficulty in undertaking agroecological enterprises because of social and cultural norms and poor environmental awareness among the population; (e) significant training deficiencies among entrepreneurs in agroecological agriculture; (f) absence of adequate distribution channels for agroecological products; and (g) excessive bureaucratic obstacles through laws that hinder entrepreneurial processes.

The article presents methods of agroecological production in Europe and the U.S., the basic principles and methods of organic farming in Ukraine, grounded introduction of innovative technologies in organic production activities of agricultural enterprises.В статье приводятся методы ведения агроэкологического производства продукции в странах Европы и США, рассматриваются основы и способы ведения органического земледелия в Украине, обосновано внедрение инновационных технологий органического производства в деятельности аграрных предприятий.