This article presents the findings of participatory research conducted between April 2018 and December 2019 at the urban agroecological community garden Viveiro Escola União de Vila Nova , located in a socially vulnerable area of São Paulo, Brazil. Drawing on interviews with three community garden coordinators, three female urban farmers and grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Urban Agroecology and Ecofeminism, the study examines how the garden operates as a space of resistance and empowerment for Black and Indigenous women. The results reveal that Viveiro Escola fosters an ethic of care rooted in collective work, solidarity, and ancestral knowledge, directly challenging patriarchal, racialised, and capitalist structures of domination. Through feminist workshops, participatory governance, and conversation circles, the garden provides a safe space where women confront and name the structural violence they endure, particularly domestic and symbolic violence, while building critical awareness, reclaiming their agency, and reconstructing their identities based on autonomy and solidarity. The findings highlight the potential of urban agroecology, informed by ecofeminist principles, to promote environmental restoration, gender justice, and inclusive, culturally grounded food systems that empower women and contest systemic violence in marginalised urban communities. • The manuscript has been thoroughly revised and restructured in response to the reviewer's detailed comments. • All sections of the article have been carefully adjusted to address the feedback. • Due to the comprehensive nature of these changes, the previously submitted text has not been highlighted, as the entire article has undergone significant reorganisation and refinement. • I am confident that these revisions align the manuscript with the journal's expectations and enhance its contribution to the field.
Laura Martins de Carvalho (Fri,) studied this question.