Abstract
Mexican campesino agriculture is wealthy in terms of biocultural diversity, agroecological practices, and territorial relations. Yet, In the Hight Mixtec Region –in the Southern state of Oaxaca– socioeconomic vulnerability interacts with diverse threats to food self-sufficiency, such as loss of agrobiodiversity, gender inequality, and climate variability. Under the premise that the disappearance of peasant agriculture can lead to more efficient food production, the dominant development paradigm has impaired the survival and social reproduction of peasant communities. Yet, principles of reciprocity, social capital, and collective capacity remain pillars for local agrifood systems in the face of the liberalization of agrifood systems. This collaborative research project emphasizes the importance of recognizing ‘other’ forms of knowledge and science as crucial for co-imagining alternatives to strengthening food sovereignty in peasant communities. Focusing on the backyard as an object of study opens a window into rethinking alternatives for strengthening food sovereignty, communality, and maintaining the livelihoods of rural communities from a gendered perspective. Also referred to as solar or traspatio, this space promotes self-sufficiency in healthy foods and is commonly taken care of by women. Guided by the notion that transdisciplinarity and knowledge co-production are essential to developing and understanding principles applicable to today’s most pressing social and environmental issues, this project uses feminist and participatory research methods that offer a window into the interdependence of agrifood systems and communities’ socio-ecological elements.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Fed Up: Learning From the Past, Imagining New Futures
KEYWORDS
Collectivity, Kitchen Gardening, Knowledge, Participatory, Gendered
