Persistence of swidden cultivation in the face of globalization: a case study from communities in Calakmul, Mexico

TY - JOUR

T1 - Persistence of swidden cultivation in the face of globalization

T2 - a case study from communities in Calakmul, Mexico

AU - Schmook, Birgit

AU - van Vliet, Nathalie

AU - Radel, Claudia

AU - Manzón-Che, María de Jesús

AU - McCandless, Susannah

PY - 2013/2

Y1 - 2013/2

N2 - Over the last decades, political, economic and environmental pressures have encouraged changes from swidden to more intensive agricultural practices, resulting in the hypothesis that swidden cultivation systems are disappearing. In Calakmul, southeastern Mexico, communities decreased the area under milpa, the traditional maize swidden system, but a collapse did not occur. To document and explain the persistence of swidden we employ a variety of data: (1) 59 standardized household surveys from 2003 and 2010 in five villages, (2) in-depth interviews in one village, and (3) coupled human-environmental timelines in this same village. Droughts, hurricanes, and remittances were important drivers of decreases in milpa cultivation. Market crop profitability and conservation programs were also reported to affect the area under milpa. Off-farm employment and governmental transfers have tended to stabilize household economies and decrease dependency on agricultural production, but have also allowed households to maintain their milpas for subsistence and cultural reproduction. Findings in Calakmul point to the need to consider swidden as an evolving and active response to changing policy, economic, and environmental conditions.

AB - Over the last decades, political, economic and environmental pressures have encouraged changes from swidden to more intensive agricultural practices, resulting in the hypothesis that swidden cultivation systems are disappearing. In Calakmul, southeastern Mexico, communities decreased the area under milpa, the traditional maize swidden system, but a collapse did not occur. To document and explain the persistence of swidden we employ a variety of data: (1) 59 standardized household surveys from 2003 and 2010 in five villages, (2) in-depth interviews in one village, and (3) coupled human-environmental timelines in this same village. Droughts, hurricanes, and remittances were important drivers of decreases in milpa cultivation. Market crop profitability and conservation programs were also reported to affect the area under milpa. Off-farm employment and governmental transfers have tended to stabilize household economies and decrease dependency on agricultural production, but have also allowed households to maintain their milpas for subsistence and cultural reproduction. Findings in Calakmul point to the need to consider swidden as an evolving and active response to changing policy, economic, and environmental conditions.

U2 - 10.1007/s10745-012-9557-5

DO - 10.1007/s10745-012-9557-5

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0300-7839

VL - 41

SP - 93

EP - 107

JO - Human Ecology

JF - Human Ecology

IS - 1

ER -