IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v39y2022i1d10.1007_s10460-021-10249-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Community seed network in an era of climate change: dynamics of maize diversity in Yucatán, Mexico

Author

Listed:
  • Marianna Fenzi

    (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Laboratory for the History of Science and Technology)

  • Paul Rogé

    (University of CA – Berkeley)

  • Angel Cruz-Estrada

    (Centro de Innovación para el Desarrollo Apícola Sustentable)

  • John Tuxill

    (Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Western Washington University)

  • Devra Jarvis

    (Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research, Museo Orto Botanico di Roma-Universita’ La Sapienza c/o SARA ENViMOD
    Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University)

Abstract

Local seed systems remain the fundamental source of seeds for many crops in developing countries. Climate resilience for small holder farmers continues to depend largely on locally available seeds of traditional crop varieties. High rainfall events can have as significant an impact on crop production as increased temperatures and drought. This article analyzes the dynamics of maize diversity over 3 years in a farming community of Yucatán state, Mexico, where elevated levels of precipitation forced farmers in 2012 to reduce maize diversity in their plots. We study how farmers maintained their agroecosystem resilience through seed networks, examining the drivers influencing maize diversity and seed provisioning in the year preceding and following the 2012 climatic disturbance (2011–2013). We found that, under these challenging circumstances, farmers focused their efforts on their most reliable landraces, disregarding hybrids. We show that farmers were able to recover and restore the diversity usually cultivated in the community in the year following the critical climate event. The maize dynamic assessed in this study demonstrates the importance of community level conservation of crop diversity. Understanding farmer management strategies of agrobiodiversity, especially during a challenging climatic period, is necessary to promote a more tailored response to climate change in traditional farming systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Marianna Fenzi & Paul Rogé & Angel Cruz-Estrada & John Tuxill & Devra Jarvis, 2022. "Community seed network in an era of climate change: dynamics of maize diversity in Yucatán, Mexico," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(1), pages 339-356, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:39:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s10460-021-10249-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-021-10249-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10460-021-10249-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10460-021-10249-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francis Denisse McLean-Rodríguez & Tania Carolina Camacho-Villa & Conny J. M. Almekinders & Mario Enrico Pè & Matteo Dell’Acqua & Denise E. Costich, 2019. "The abandonment of maize landraces over the last 50 years in Morelos, Mexico: a tracing study using a multi-level perspective," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(4), pages 651-668, December.
    2. Shawn McGuire & Louise Sperling, 2016. "Seed systems smallholder farmers use," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 179-195, February.
    3. Bellon, Mauricio R. & Hodson, David & Bergvinson, David & Beck, David & Martinez-Romero, Eduardo & Montoya, Yinha, 2005. "Targeting agricultural research to benefit poor farmers: Relating poverty mapping to maize environments in Mexico," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(5-6), pages 476-492.
    4. Badstue, Lone B. & Bellon, Mauricio R. & Berthaud, Julien & Ramirez, Alejandro & Flores, Dagoberto & Juarez, Xochitl, 2007. "The Dynamics of Farmers' Maize Seed Supply Practices in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 1579-1593, September.
    5. Marta Astier & Quetzalcóatl Orozco-Ramírez & Robert Walker & Yankuic Galván-Miyoshi & Carlos González-Esquivel & Cynthia S. Simmons, 2020. "Post-NAFTA Changes in Peasant Land Use—The Case of the Pátzcuaro Lake Watershed Region in the Central-West México," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-11, March.
    6. Bellon, Mauricio R & Taylor, J Edward, 1993. ""Folk" Soil Taxonomy and the Partial Adoption of New Seed Varieties," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(4), pages 763-786, July.
    7. Bellon, Mauricio R. & Risopoulos, Jean, 2001. "Small-Scale Farmers Expand the Benefits of Improved Maize Germplasm: A Case Study from Chiapas, Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 799-811, May.
    8. Aquino, Pedro & Carrion, Federico & Calvo, Ricardo & Flores, Dagoberto, 2001. "Selected Maize Statistics," Facts and Trends/Overview and Outlook 298012, CIMMYT: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
    9. Bellon, Mauricio R., 2004. "Conceptualizing Interventions to Support On-Farm Genetic Resource Conservation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 159-172, January.
    10. Miguel A. Altieri & Clara I. Nicholls, 2017. "The adaptation and mitigation potential of traditional agriculture in a changing climate," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 33-45, January.
    11. Morris, Michael L. & Risopoulos, Jean & Beck, David, 1999. "Genetic Change in Farmer-Recycled Maize Seed: A Review of the Evidence," Economics Working Papers 7683, CIMMYT: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
    12. Van Dusen, M. Eric, 2000. "In Situ Conservation Of Crop Genetic Resources In The Mexican Milpa System," Dissertations 11941, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    13. Quetzalcóatl Orozco-Ramírez & Marta Astier, 2017. "Socio-economic and environmental changes related to maize richness in Mexico’s central highlands," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 377-391, June.
    14. Shawn McGuire & Louise Sperling, 2016. "Seed systems smallholder farmers use," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 179-195, February.
    15. Mauricio Bellon & Julien Berthaud, 2006. "Traditional Mexican Agricultural Systems and the Potential Impacts of Transgenic Varieties on Maize Diversity," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(1), pages 3-14, March.
    16. Eakin, Hallie, 2005. "Institutional change, climate risk, and rural vulnerability: Cases from Central Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 1923-1938, November.
    17. Bellon, Mauricio R. & Hellin, Jon, 2011. "Planting Hybrids, Keeping Landraces: Agricultural Modernization and Tradition Among Small-Scale Maize Farmers in Chiapas, Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1434-1443, August.
    18. Hallie Eakin & Hugo Perales & Kirsten Appendini & Stuart Sweeney, 2014. "Selling Maize in Mexico: The Persistence of Peasant Farming in an Era of Global Markets," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(1), pages 133-155, January.
    19. Di Falco, Salvatore & Perrings, Charles, 2005. "Crop biodiversity, risk management and the implications of agricultural assistance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 459-466, December.
    20. Coomes, Oliver T. & McGuire, Shawn J. & Garine, Eric & Caillon, Sophie & McKey, Doyle & Demeulenaere, Elise & Jarvis, Devra & Aistara, Guntra & Barnaud, Adeline & Clouvel, Pascal & Emperaire, Laure & , 2015. "Farmer seed networks make a limited contribution to agriculture? Four common misconceptions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 41-50.
    21. Babatunde O. Abidoye & Pradeep Kurukulasuriya & Robert Mendelsohn, 2017. "South-East Asian Farmer Perceptions Of Climate Change," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(03), pages 1-8, August.
    22. Oecd, 2009. "Climate Change and Africa," OECD Journal: General Papers, OECD Publishing, vol. 2009(1), pages 5-35.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Akimowicz, Mikaël & Del Corso, Jean-Pierre & Gallai, Nicola & Képhaliacos, Charilaos, 2022. "The leader, the keeper, and the follower? A legitimacy perspective on the governance of varietal innovation systems for climate changes adaptation. The case of sunflower hybrids in France," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francis Denisse McLean-Rodríguez & Tania Carolina Camacho-Villa & Conny J. M. Almekinders & Mario Enrico Pè & Matteo Dell’Acqua & Denise E. Costich, 2019. "The abandonment of maize landraces over the last 50 years in Morelos, Mexico: a tracing study using a multi-level perspective," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(4), pages 651-668, December.
    2. Yingjie Song & Qiong Fang & Devra Jarvis & Keyu Bai & Dongmei Liu & Jinchao Feng & Chunlin Long, 2019. "Network Analysis of Seed Flow, a Traditional Method for Conserving Tartary Buckwheat ( Fagopyrum tataricum ) Landraces in Liangshan, Southwest China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-14, August.
    3. Quetzalcóatl Orozco-Ramírez & Marta Astier, 2017. "Socio-economic and environmental changes related to maize richness in Mexico’s central highlands," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 377-391, June.
    4. Paul Rachkara & David Paul Phillips & Stephen Wamala Kalule & Richard William Gibson, 2017. "Innovative and beneficial informal sweetpotato seed private enterprise in northern Uganda," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(3), pages 595-610, June.
    5. Louise Sperling & Conny J. M. Almekinders, 2023. "Informal Commercial Seed Systems: Leave, Suppress or Support Them?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-14, September.
    6. Michael Halewood & Ana Bedmar Villanueva & Jazzy Rasolojaona & Michelle Andriamahazo & Naritiana Rakotoniaina & Bienvenu Bossou & Toussaint Mikpon & Raymond Vodouhe & Lena Fey & Andreas Drews & P. Lav, 2021. "Enhancing farmers’ agency in the global crop commons through use of biocultural community protocols," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(2), pages 579-594, June.
    7. Asfaw, Solomon & Scognamillo, Antonio & Caprera, Gloria Di & Sitko, Nicholas & Ignaciuk, Adriana, 2019. "Heterogeneous impact of livelihood diversification on household welfare: Cross-country evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 278-295.
    8. Mauricio R. Bellon & Alicia Mastretta-Yanes & Alejandro Ponce-Mendoza & Daniel Ortiz-Santa María & Oswaldo Oliveros-Galindo & Hugo Perales & Francisca Acevedo & José Sarukhán, 2021. "Beyond subsistence: the aggregate contribution of campesinos to the supply and conservation of native maize across Mexico," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(1), pages 39-53, February.
    9. Lilian Nkengla-Asi & Favour Eforuoku & Olamide Olaosebikan & Temitope Adejoju Ladigbolu & Delphine Amah & Rachid Hanna & P. Lava Kumar, 2021. "Gender Roles in Sourcing and Sharing of Banana Planting Material in Communities with and without Banana Bunchy Top Disease in Nigeria," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-14, March.
    10. Coomes, Oliver T. & McGuire, Shawn J. & Garine, Eric & Caillon, Sophie & McKey, Doyle & Demeulenaere, Elise & Jarvis, Devra & Aistara, Guntra & Barnaud, Adeline & Clouvel, Pascal & Emperaire, Laure & , 2015. "Farmer seed networks make a limited contribution to agriculture? Four common misconceptions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 41-50.
    11. Fabien Girard & Christine Frison, 2021. "From farmers’ rights to the rights of peasants: seeds and the biocultural turn," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 102(4), pages 461-476, December.
    12. Labeyrie, Vanesse & Friedman, Rachel S. & Donnet, Sophie & Faye, Ndeye Fatou & Cobelli, Océane & Baggio, Jacopo & Felipe-Lucia, María R. & Raimond, Christine, 2023. "Linking seed networks and crop diversity contributions to people: A case study in small-scale farming systems in Sahelian Senegal," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    13. Ola Tveitereid Westengen & Kristine Skarbø & Teshome Hunduma Mulesa & Trygve Berg, 2018. "Access to genes: linkages between genebanks and farmers’ seed systems," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(1), pages 9-25, February.
    14. Benin, Samuel & Gebremedhin, Berhanu & Smale, Melinda & Pender, John L. & Ehui, Simeon, 2003. "Determinants of cereal diversity in communities and on household farms of the Northern Ethiopian Highlands:," EPTD discussion papers 105, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    15. Gloria Otieno & Robert John O Ogola & Tobias Recha & Jemal Nurhisen Mohammed & Carlo Fadda, 2022. "Climate Change and Seed System Interventions Impact on Food Security and Incomes in East Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-22, May.
    16. Andersen Onofre, Kelsey F. & Forbes, Gregory A. & Andrade-Piedra, Jorge L. & Buddenhagen, Chris E. & Fulton, James C. & Gatto, Marcel & Khidesheli, Zurab & Mdivani, Rusudan & Xing, Yanru & Garrett, Ka, 2021. "An integrated seed health strategy and phytosanitary risk assessment: Potato in the Republic of Georgia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    17. Matthew C. LaFevor, 2022. "Crop Species Production Diversity Enhances Revenue Stability in Low-Income Farm Regions of Mexico," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-22, November.
    18. Lucy Mulugo & Florence Birungi Kyazze & Paul Kibwika & Bonaventure Aman Omondi & Enoch Mutebi Kikulwe, 2020. "Seed Security Factors Driving Farmer Decisions on Uptake of Tissue Culture Banana Seed in Central Uganda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-17, December.
    19. Rahma I. Adam & Lone Badstue & Kirimi Sindi, 2018. "The dynamics of smallholder farmers’ acquisition and distribution of sweetpotato vines in the Lake Victoria Zone Region, Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(2), pages 339-350, April.
    20. Louise Sperling & Eliud Birachi & Sylvia Kalemera & Mercy Mutua & Noel Templer & Clare Mukankusi & Kessy Radegunda & Magdalena William & Patrick Gallagher & Edith Kadege & Jean Claude Rubyogo, 2021. "The Informal Seed Business: Focus on Yellow Bean in Tanzania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:39:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s10460-021-10249-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.