Rural urbanisation and home gardening in southern Mexico: agrobiodiversity loss and alternative pathways

Abstract

In southern Mexico, the home garden has played a key role in the livelihood security of rural families and in the conservation of agrobiodiversity. This article examines how, as a dominant trend, rural urbanisation has reduced the dependence on home gardening as a livelihood strategy, with a consequent decline in agrobiodiversity. Drawing upon a mixed methods approach involving household surveys and life stories, the article contributes to a better understanding of long-term dynamics in the relationship between agrobiodiversity management and people’s livelihoods, and provides novel evidence on alternative pathways that allow households to maintain greater home garden agrobiodiversity.