Gendered vulnerabilities and grassroots adaptation initiatives in home gardens and small orchards in Northwest Mexico

Abstract

With the retreat of the state under neoliberalism, the lack of (or negligible) government and non-governmental support reasserts grassroots initiatives as a global-change strategy. A feminist political ecology approach and the concept of adverse inclusion were used to facilitate an analysis of social differences shaping local-level adaptive responses. Adaptive responses of small farmers in the border village of San Ignacio, Sonora, Mexico, who are increasingly vulnerable to climate change, water scarcity, and changing labor markets were studied. Gender differences in production sites translate into diverse vulnerabilities and adaptive strategies. Local capacities and initiatives should be a focus of research and policy to avoid viewing women and men as passive in the face of global change. The dynamic strategies of San Ignacio women and men in home gardens and small orchards hold lessons for other regions particularly related to adaptation to climate change via agrobiodiversity, water resource management, and diversified agricultural livelihoods.

Might climate change the “healthy migrant” effect?

“…Additionally, females are excluded from our analysis since there were so few listed as head of the household. Prior research in Mexico reveals that men and women, especially as household heads, tend to make different decisions regarding livelihood strategies (e.g., Buechler 2016; Radel et al 2016). In this way, there are likely gender differences in the climate-migration-health connections due to the differential likelihood of engaging migration as a household strategy.…”

Gender perspectives in resilience, vulnerability and adaptation to global environmental change

“…Additionally, as remarked by Dyck (2005), close attention to everyday life helps to keep women visible in rapidly changing world conditions, rather than shade their activities beyond dominant models. Four papers in this special issue illustrate such focus (Buchanan et al 2016; Buechler 2016; Ravera et al 2016; Wilmer and Fernández-Giménez 2016). …”

“…Buechler (2016) draws on feminist political ecology to show the dynamic strategies of smallholders in orchards and home gardens in Northwest Mexico to changes in water availability in the face of climate change and neoliberal policies. She specifically highlights everyday spaces like home gardens, inhabited predominately by women, as sites that are largely invisible but important for their climate change mitigation and adaptation potential.…”

A synthesis of convergent reflections, tensions and silences in linking gender and global environmental change research

“…As Buechler (2016a) suggests: feminist political ecology allowed for an analysis of how gender and social class influenced the locus of agricultural production, which in turn shaped the nature of climate and water - related vulnerabilities experienced and grassroots responses to these. Feminist political ecology and the concept of adverse inclusion helped to shed light on subjectivities linked to policies and programs .…”

“…Feminist political ecology and the concept of adverse inclusion helped to shed light on subjectivities linked to policies and programs . The concept of ‘adverse inclusion’ is applied in Northwest Mexico by Buechler (2016a) to examine local vulnerabilities and community-level adaptation and to reflect on the issue of scale. According to Buechler: scalar issues emerged from an analysis that started in and around the home, which continues to be an important locus for women in rural Mexico, and indeed, for women globally and extended to community and regional levels .…”