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Backyard agricultural rural production and its integration into local food networks in Misantla, Mexico

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Abstract

Studies in Asia, Europe, Central America, South America, and a few studies in Mexico related to backyard production, report the type of crops and benefit of the harvest for the producer through individual efforts. These studies, however, leave a gap in how these producers integrate collaboratively to have their products reach their customers. The objective of this research was to describe the configuration of economic agents involved in backyard farming in the intermunicipal region of Misantla, Mexico. Data was collected by means of an interview with 96 families, using a snowball strategy to reach a total of 254 families. However, 27 of them reported not engaging in backyard activities. As a result, the study was carried out with 227 farm families through an in-person structured survey. Findings show that backyard farming and livestock production in 70% of the families in this region of study is mainly for their own consumption, whereas production surplus is typically used as an additional income. Those involved in this production are identified as seed and farming tool providers; backyard producers, and customers-consumers, all of which participate in 4 short-cycle supply chains with a fragile intermediation. These supply chains are the channel for fresh food to the food networks of local economies. These local food networks can help enhance food innocuity, traceability and commercial efficiency for backyard farmers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Editor of the journal, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their valuable inputs to the earlier version of this manuscript. We would also like to thank all informants and participants involved in this study. The first author is grateful to Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencias y Tecnologías, of Mexico (CONAHCYT) for the scholarship granted for the study of the PhD in Engineering Sciences at TECNM/ ITS Misantla. (No. 805637/262752).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Postgraduate Studies and Research, Tecnológico Nacional de México/ITS de Misantla, Km. 1.8 Carretera a Loma del Cojolite, Misantla, Mexico

    Nayeli Montalvo Romero, Gregorio Fernández-Lambert, Luis Enrique García-Santamaría & Aarón Montiel Rosales

  2. Division of Research and Postgraduate Studies, Tecnológico Nacional de México/I.T. Orizaba, Orizaba, México

    Alberto A. Aguilar-Lasserre

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  1. Nayeli Montalvo Romero
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  2. Gregorio Fernández-Lambert
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  3. Luis Enrique García-Santamaría
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  5. Alberto A. Aguilar-Lasserre
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Nayeli Montlavo-Romero (NMR), Luis E. García-Santamaría (LEGS), Aarón Montiel Rosales (AMR), Alberto A. Aguilar Lasserre (AAL) and Gregorio Fernández-Lambert (GFL). The first draft of the manuscript was written by Nayeli Montalvo-Romero and Gregorio Fernández-Lambert and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Conceptualization: NMR, LEGS and GFL; Methodology: AAL, GFL and NMR; Formal analysis and investigation: GFL, AMR and AAL; Writing—original draft preparation: NMR, LEGS; Writing—review and editing: AAL, GFL and NMR; Resources: All authors; Supervision: GFL and AAL.

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Correspondence to Gregorio Fernández-Lambert.

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Table 6

Table 6 Survey on backyard farming in the study region
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Romero, N.M., Fernández-Lambert, G., García-Santamaría, L.E. et al. Backyard agricultural rural production and its integration into local food networks in Misantla, Mexico. GeoJournal 89, 12 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-024-11013-w

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