Socioeconomic Determinants of Homegardening in the Southeast of Mexico: An Endowments-Based Livelihoods Framework

Abstract

In the vast literature on homegardens, most of the studies have focused on describing their properties and functions, while there is scant knowledge about the socioeconomic determinants of homegardening patterns. This paper contributes to filling this gap by assessing the planned agrobiodiversity of homegardens in Yucatán, Mexico, and studying the association between homegardening patterns and contextual and household characteristics. In doing so, the paper draws on key elements of the Capability Approach and the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework. Data was collected in four Yucatecan communities showing different urbanization levels, the heterogeneous presence of a Mayan Indigenous population, and diverse attachment to traditional agricultural livelihoods. A mixed-methods approach was followed, involving household surveys and interviews, and quantitative analysis informed by qualitative insights. Principal components analysis, cluster, and regression analyses were applied to develop a homegarden typology and identify associations among four homegardening patterns and five relevant household characteristics: (1) the household structure and family life cycle; (2) ethnicity; (3) rural-urban interactions; (4) wealth; and (5) participation in government-led development interventions. The paper contributes to broader debates on the nexus of agrobio-diversity and sociocultural and economic interactions and on how these influence alternative pathways to the dominant trend of agrobiodiversity loss.