Coffee Agroecosystem in Mexico: Productive Culture between Tradition and Change

Abstract

Objective: Understand the productive cultural dynamics that underlies coffee agroecosystems in the Sustainable Rural Development District 005 Fortín, Veracruz, Mexico. Methodology: A survey was applied designed with open and closed questions. Data sets were subjected to analysis of variance, Tukey tests and frequency tables. Results: The coffee agroecosystems in Mexico are complex systems that underlie a particular cultural dynamic expressing a way of conceiving the world, that influences not only on their life, but also on the reproduction of certain management practices whose logic goes beyond economics. The coffee activity is carried out largely by tradition (39 %), characterized by shade-grown Coffea arabica agroecosystems (100 %), with yields lower than 5.87 t ha-1. Limitations of the study/Implications: This is a case study in a specific area of the state of Veracruz, and the results express a local reality. Findings: Producers perform up to four extra-farm economic activities to supplement their family income; paradoxically, this has served as the basis to keep carrying out the coffee activity, thus reducing their economic vulnerability and facilitating the continuity of their production methods and livelihood.