The Scope and Constraints of Homegardens for Sustainable Development: A Review

Abstract

<p><strong>Background.</strong> Considering the current importance of recognizing the potential of traditional agroecosystems, including homegardens in the sustainable development of many rural and urban communities, strategists and scientists around the world are showing increasing interest in their study. <strong>Objective.</strong> Analyze the scientific literature relevant to the scope and constraints of homegardens (HGs), and to identify gaps and research perspectives, especially for indigenous communities in Mexico. <strong>Methodology.</strong> A total of 335 studies published in the last decades (1986-2020) were collected from different databases using predefined keywords. All publications were organized and stored in the Zotero (2018) program. The trends of all the publications were analyzed using NVivo 12 Plus software. <strong>Results.</strong> The number of publications increased from the year 2000. About 70% of the publications analyzed were research articles in english. Of the total studies examined 239 (71.35%) were conducted in different parts of the world, of which 30% from Asia and the remaining 96 (28.65%) from Mexico, primarily in tropics. Most of these studies focused on ecological (62.98%), economic (20.29%), cultural (13.43%), social (7.46%) and multifunctional features (12.23%) of HGs. The same pattern was identified in the case of Mexico, with studies of 10.74%, 5.07%, 5.67%, 0.597%, and 3.58% focused on ecological, economic, cultural, social and the multifunctionality features of HGs respectively. <strong>Implications. </strong>The analysis of the scope and limitations of HGs contributes to identifying the need to carry out transdisciplinary research that reflects their whole dynamics as agroecosystems, in which, in addition to the ecological environment, there are various cultural aspects considered important in the indigenous communities of Mexico.<strong> Conclusions. </strong>The publications emphasized the importance of homegardens to provide multiple ecosystem functions and services to enhance human well-being. However, future research should reevaluate HGs based on a holistic multi-functional agriculture approach to promote them as one of the strategies conducive to improve family well-being. Also, it is suggested to evaluate the degree of sustainability of HGs based on its resilience and adaptation capacity to confront current challenges.</p>

Amenazas al paisaje agrícola tradicional del sur de Yucatán, México: una mirada desde el análisis socioecológico

“…Sin embargo, se observan diferencias en las variantes de los cultivos que se siembran en las milpas de Tahdziú, en donde se registraron variedades criollas de maíz y frijol, mientras que en Tzucacab predomina el cultivo de maíz híbrido. En los huertos familiares, el índice de diversidad fue cercano a 4, lo que refleja una alta agrobiodiversidad que refuerza su valor potencial como depósitos de diversidad biológica (Rajagopal et al, 2021).…”

Food self-provisioning: a review of health and climate implications

“…As the evidence above suggests, there is a need for increased research attention to food self-provisioning. A few earlier review articles focus on home gardening and its connections to food security and sustainable development, particularly in the Global South (Carstens et al, 2021; Galhena et al, 2013; Rajagopal et al, 2021; Saediman et al, 2021). Other reviews focus, for example, on urban agriculture and food security (Poulsen et al, 2015), quantification of local food self-sufficiency and food flows in urban areas (Schreiber et al, 2021), and sustainability in alternative food networks (Michel-Villarreal et al, 2019).…”

Patterns of knowledge and use of tropical plants in homegardens of Southern Morelos, Mexico

“…The ecological importance of homegardens is in providing multiple ecosystem functions and services that enhance human well-being (Rajagopal et al 2021). The homegarden is the open space that is directly adjacent to the house, which is managed by the family or household owner (Mazarolli 2011).…”