The importance of the traditional milpa in food security and nutritional self-sufficiency in the highlands of Oaxaca, Mexico.

ABSTRACT: Around 30% of global food is produced by smallholder farmers, yet they constitute the most food-insecure group. In Mexico, food self-sufficiency is declining. Rural policies in the country have stimulated the production of cash crops to the detriment of the traditional intercropping system, the milpa. Such a decline may have negative consequences for the food security of subsistence farmers. This study aimed to assess changes in nutritional self-sufficiency over the last 30 years and the role of milpa systems in food security for two communities in the highlands of Oaxaca, Mexico. The study used satellite images, censuses, and field data to estimate food production. Three cropping systems, monoculture of maize, monoculture of common bean, and the milpa were compared in terms of nutrients a

SUBMITTER: Novotny IP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7894926 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature