Tag: Policy
Forest cover change and land tenure change in Mexico’s avocado region: Is community forestry related to reduced deforestation for high value crops?
Forest cover change in highland pine-oak forests of Michoacan, Mexico is due to a process of conversion of natural forests to avocado orchards. Privately-owned avocado orchards are found on land that was common forest before the 1992 Reform of the Mexican Constitution. We ask how forest cover change was facilitated by policy changes that affected land tenure rules and existing community forestry programs. We use a comparative case study of four communities, an analysis of forest cover change, and
Socio-economic and technological typology of avocado cv. Hass farms from Antioquia (Colombia)
A typology of avocado cv. Hass farms was constructed based on information collected from productive units in Antioquia, Colombia. The study aimed to provide key information about the farms for those involved in the design of programs and public policies directed to growers. The data were scrutinized through Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and Cluster Analysis. The sample was made up of 214 growers of the crop. Quantitative and qualitative variables were employed for the MCA, which rendered
Socio-Environmental Impacts of the Avocado Boom in the Meseta Purépecha, Michoacán, Mexico
The rapid expansion of avocado orchards in the Meseta Purépecha, in the state of Michoacán in central Mexico, has mostly been driven by the increasing demand of North American consumers in the context of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). While the cultivation of avocado has produced regional economic growth, economic profits are strongly concentrated, notably in the hands of American agribusiness, while its regional and local environmental impacts increasingly affect indigenous and
Avocado Production and Local Trade in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania: A Case of an Emerging Trade Commodity from Horticulture
Avocado crop in Tanzania is sparingly investigated regardless of being an important fruit commodity. This study was undertaken to explore the yield and the value chain of this crop in the country. Data were collected mainly by face-to-face interviews with 275 avocado farmers, 231 avocado traders and 16 key informants. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test and one-way analysis of variance were used for data analysis. The average crop yield ranged from 76 to 124 kg plant between regions. The average
Multilevel business power in environmental politics: the avocado boom and water scarcity in Chile
The production and export of avocados in Chile have experienced explosive growth since the 1990s, severely threatening local communities' human right to water. Despite contentious activities and protest, there has been scant reaction from public authorities and policy continues to strongly support avocado exports. We explain this by analyzing the role that business plays in water politics and the different means it has to counter the search for political influence by aggrieved communities. We argue
Spatial patterns and determinants of avocado frontier dynamics in Mexico
The surging demand for commodity crops has led to rapid and severe agricultural frontier expansion globally and has put producing regions increasingly under pressure. However, knowledge about spatial patterns of agricultural frontier dynamics, their leading spatial determinants, and socio-ecological trade-offs is often lacking, hindering contextualized decision making towards more sustainable food systems. Here, we used inventory data to map frontier dynamics of avocado production, a cash crop of