Peasant micropower in an agrifood supply system of the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, Mexico

Rivera-Núñez, Tlacaelel; Lugo, Erin I. J. Estrada; Garcı́a-Barrios, Luis; Lazos, Elena; Gracia, María Amalia; Benítez, Mariana; Rivera‐Yoshida, Natsuko; García-Herrera, Rodrigo

doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2020.06.027

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…The domestic group (DG) is the basic economic entity of social reproduction, although several peasants organizations also exist. PHs generally cultivate maize and beans for family subsistence, along with small-and medium-scale cattle ranching and/or agroforestry, depending upon the PH's family composition, means of production, and available land [17,36,37]. Other significant income sources for PHs include federal (Mexican) subsidies and remittances from the United States [38].…”

Section: Study Area and Research Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, PHs often take out highinterest loans, or mortgage their land to pay off their debts [16]. Solidarity among PHs may decrease during periods of scarcity because most families are equally affected by seasonal hardships [17,18]. Children and youths are, often, forced to leave school, either to participate in farming the family's holdings, or to migrate to generate income for the household.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unravelling the Paradoxical Seasonal Food Scarcity in a Peasant Microregion of Mexico

et al. 2022

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Seasonal food scarcity during pre-harvest months is, widely, considered to be the principal manifestation of food insecurity, for some 600 million members of smallholder families, who rely on a variety of coping strategies. This paper analyses both the peasant-economy variables that explain the presence and intensity of seasonal food scarcity, and the coping strategies of 120 rural households in a microregion of southern Mexico. We, also, examine how supply networks for six archetypical foods of the peasant diet express robustness or vulnerability during seasons of abundance and scarcity. The method combines surveys, ethnographic fieldwork, statistical models and social network analyses. Results show that 74% of households experience at least one month of food scarcity annually, and 34% of shortages last more than six months. In total, 29% of affected households gather wild foods, and 14% use intense coping strategies, such as international migration, taking out rural loans, and parental food buffering. During scarce seasons, self-sufficiency networks for maize and beans contract, but still maintain the food supply of peasant households, while cash-consumption networks such as those of beef become accessible only to a small sector of economically differentiated households. In contrast to the vast majority of research, which simply reports the presence of seasonal food shortages and describes the coping strategies of rural households, this paper provides an in-depth analysis—based upon a novel methodological integration—of the socioeconomic, agrifood, and land tenure conditions that may determine why many peasant territories in the Global South face the “farmer–food-scarcity paradox”.

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Section: Study Area and Research Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unravelling the Paradoxical Seasonal Food Scarcity in a Peasant Microregion of Mexico

et al. 2022

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“…), as is the physical and cognitive distance between them (Torre and Rallet, 2005). There has also been a shift in decision-making centers towards big corporations (Goodman, 1999;Marsden, 2013;Rivera-Núñez et al, 2020;Thompson and Scoones, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodological challenges in the analysis of agrifood systems: a mixed-method approach 

Fernández-Zarza¹,

Lozano-Cabedo²,

Amaya-Corchuelo³

et al. 2022

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Objective: The main goal of this paper consists in analyzing the potential of mixed methods used in the study of two agrifood systems: Iberian ham (Spain) and chorizo from the Toluca Valley (Mexico). Research limitations: Opposing cultural contexts that allowed different strategies to be used which sought not only to collect information from the diverse actors in each system but also face the methodological challenges that currently prevail. These challenges are linked to the diversity of the actors themselves and to the use of new technologies for data collection. Methodological design: To solve these methodological shortcomings, mixed methods have been implemented with the support of technological innovations. Results: Results allow us to verify that the employment of mixed methods is an excellent means for leveraging resources effectively and efficiently. In Spain, employing a self-administered survey enabled rural manufacturers to control the timing of their response. Regarding consumer results, these prove that collecting data via smartphone is highly recommended. In the case of Mexico, starting the research quatitatively allowed the building of trust, a factor which is critical given the levels of violence in Mexican society that generate mistrust and, ultimately, lead to a refusal to participate in academic research. Findings: The main contribution of this article is that, based on real and complex cases, it provides evidence of the potential and strategies to be followed for analyzing agrifood systems in a cross-cultural research. Mixed methods emerge as an excellent means for collecting data in global dynamics.

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“…via programs and policies that seek conservation and livelihood co-benefits. Regarding expert knowledge, there is a good sense of social actors and their interactions, land use history, and the challenge in bridging biodiversity conservation and rural livelihoods in La Sepultura BR (García-Barrios et al, 2020;Meza Jiménez et al, 2020;Rivera-Núñez et al, 2020). Researchers have been involved in long-term participatory action-research (García-Barrios et al, 2020;García Barrios et al, 2012) and recent local land use studies (Braasch et al, 2018(Braasch et al, , 2017.…”

Section: Land Use Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, according toGarcía- Barrios et al (2020), the relationship between local communities and government administrators can be generally described as limited and complicated. Tensions among social actors due to territorial disputes and dynamics have fluctuated over time, and have seen a steady increase in the last years(Rivera-Núñez et al, 2020). The challenge remains to satisfy the multiple demands placed on California's landscape, mainly of supporting local livelihoods and achieving conservation goals.…”

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confidence: 99%

Realising the benefits of natures

Yothers

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Ecosystem service (ES) assessments, which make an explicit link between nature and people's well-being, can support the management of natural protected areas that face complex and persistent sustainability challenges. We present a case study of ES supply in a biosphere reserve community in southern Mexico. We aimed to identify stakeholder-relevant ES and to analyse trade-offs between them. After engaging local stakeholders, we conducted a biophysical assessment of ES supply and associations across four different land uses. Closed forests and riparian areas, which occurred in different parts of the landscape, supplied high levels of multiple ES. Furthermore, co-produced farming goods and services that supported local livelihoods and conservation-oriented ecosystem services coincided in these four habitats. Together, these habitats provided a diverse array of ES across the landscape, indicating that stakeholders benefited from a multifunctional landscape. At the same time significant trade-offs were found in the supply of forage cover against most other ES, especially tree-based goods and services. These trade-offs revealed conflicts between agricultural land and neighbouring open forests and riparian areas, as well as opposed service demands among beneficiary groups. To address these trade-offs, stakeholders agreed on enhancing forest benefits in order to support both local livelihoods and conservation goals.

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Peasant micropower in an agrifood supply system of the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, Mexico

Cited by 9 publications

References 50 publications

Unravelling the Paradoxical Seasonal Food Scarcity in a Peasant Microregion of Mexico

Unravelling the Paradoxical Seasonal Food Scarcity in a Peasant Microregion of Mexico

Methodological challenges in the analysis of agrifood systems: a mixed-method approach

Realising the benefits of natures

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