Role of small-scale dairy production systems in central Mexico in reducing rural poverty

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyze the role of small-scale dairy farms in central Mexico in combating rural poverty from a gender perspective. Specifically, it was determined whether these production systems generated sufficient income for alleviating poverty and purchasing the basic food basket. Two hundred and twelve farmers were selected through snowball sampling. To maintain a gender perspective, female-headed farms were considered as an independent group, and male-headed farms were grouped according to multivariate statistics. Two official indicators of poverty were considered in the economic analysis: income and the extreme poverty line. Factor analysis identified four factors that explained 66.10% of accumulated variance. The cluster analysis identified five groups of farms headed by males. Then, a comparative analysis was carried out for the six groups, including the female-headed group (FG). The economic analysis revealed that, if 52% of income are production costs, groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 generated sufficient gross income to purchase the basic food basket to the household of the area. However, the FG and group 5 did not generate sufficient gross income to purchase the food basket. In contrast, if 70% of income are productions costs, only groups 1 and 4 generated sufficient gross income. It can be concluded that small-scale dairy farms generate sufficient daily income under certain conditions for the purchase of the basic food basket and, therefore, help to fight poverty in rural families, especially in groups 1 and 4. In the case of the FG and groups 2, 3, and 5, dairy production along with the diversification of productive activities and backyard activities supports the livelihoods of rural families. It is recommended that existing gender norms be further explored because these could directly influence the motivation of farmers, particularly female producers, to adopt or reject agricultural and livestock technologies.

Desempeño Productivo De Vacas Lecheras Alimentadas Con Praderas De Kikuyo Sobresembradas Con Centeno en Sistemas De Producción De Leche en Pequeña Escala en Los Valles Altos De México

“…En México los SPLPE contribuyen con más del 30% de la producción lechera nacional, y permiten a las familias productoras superar la pobreza rural (Espinoza-Ortega et al, 2007;Ruiz-Torres et al, 2022). Sin embargo, la dependencia de insumos externos afecta la rentabilidad y la sostenibilidad de estos sistemas.…”

Ensilados Mixtos De Cereales De Grano Pequeño en La Alimentación De Vacas en Sistemas De Producción De Leche en Pequeña Escala

“…Estos sistemas contribuyen a la seguridad alimentaria y económica de estas regiones (FAO, 2022;Makkar, 2016). En los valles altos del centro de México además de aportar a la producción nacional, permiten superar los índices de pobreza de las comunidades rurales, por lo que son considerados una opción de desarrollo rural (Espinoza-Ortega et al, 2007;Prospero Bernal et al, 2017;Ruiz-Torres et al, 2022). Pese a la importancia de estos sistemas, su eficiencia se ve afecta por la estacionalidad en el suministro de alimentos, particularmente durante la época seca, donde la disponibilidad de forrajes de calidad es menor (Bartl et al, 2009;Abbas et al, 2019;Cai et al,2020;Gómez-Miranda et al, 2020).…”