Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Objective: To design an interdisciplinary strategy for the analysis of the environmental impacts of agricultural activity on the efficiency of the aquaculture production system in the Río Mayo basin. Methodology: Exploration of scientific experiences in the treatment of pollution for its synthesis, in a model of intervention at the level of Hydrological Basin, in alignment with the criteria of the ecological economy. We used as reference the analysis of the Mexican Basin of the Rio Mayo; the relationships between the pollution originated in intensive agriculture and its impact on productive systems downstream (aquaculture of the shrimp) are described. Results: An interdisciplinary strategy was constructed to analyze, through hydrological modeling techniques, the interaction of agricultural activity with the main components of the ecosystems, to estimate the remnants of pollution displaced from the productive systems of the basin to the coastal waters and their affectation to the bodies of water that support the aquaculture activity. Limitations: The lack of specialized literature in the casuistic analysis of the interrelationship between economic actors and ecosystems that provide environmental services, demands the integrated effort of the natural sciences and the economy. Conclusions: The adequate technical evaluation of the analyzed phenomenon is conditioned to the abandonment of the prevailing economic paradigm, that obliterates the biophysical and social dimension of the problems that the own economic processes generate.Keywords: regional

Objective: Analyze the role played by the organization and leadership in the construction of the Localized Agri-Food Systems (LAFS). In this sense, It is described the organizational performing and the role of leadership through of a case study of an organization whose main activity is the production of organic prickly-pear cactus in the locality of El Rincón, located in Hidalgo state, Mexico. Methodology: Was participatory, as it consisted of field visits, semi-structured and unstructured interviews, meetings with producers and SWOT analysis. Results: show that vertical organizations and centralized leadership can promote a development of the LAFS at first, but they are an obstacle and a limitation in other moments that are distinguished by the leader’s disappearance, virtual or physical. Limitations: This study is that although it is a first work that intend to support the development of a LAFS, it is necessary at first to rebuild the trust relations among the community. Conclusions: In addition to the restoration of trust relations, the organization must be more open to promote and value the prickly-pear cactus as a differentiated product with a high potential for territorial development.

With the growing interest in gastronomy, as a value for tourism destinations, the issue of satisfied customers becomes paramount. Therefore, in this paper, the diners of the two most important gastronomic areas in Tijuana (downtown and Gastronomic District), Mexico were surveyed. The objective, besides briefly characterizing both places, was to measure the degree of consumer´s satisfaction, as well as to identify the specific factors that determine it. Methodology: For the analysis, the non-participant observation technique and a structural equations model (PLS) with five constructs and 13 observed variables were proposed. It also further investigates the importance-performance matrix analysis (IPMA). Results: Results show satisfied customers for both zones with an opportunity of improving the quality of service in the Center area and the perception of the area in the Gastronomic District. Limitations: The main limitation is the lack of inclusion of the construct expectations in the model. Conclusions: From the results, we concluded that the client, in both areas, is satisfied, detecting an opportunity of improving the quality of service in the Center area and the perception of the area in the Gastronomic District.

Objective: To analyze food practices and representations features of migrant families within Argentina that currently inhabit in the Southern Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area. Methodology: Is based on ethnographic fieldwork and secondary sources of information. Results: we obtained the following results: a) characteristics and processes of food practices and representations b) identity building in migrant context through the elaboration and consumption of specific plates c) specific issues within both territories in terms of the grammar of cuisine and their transmission modes. Limitations: The main limitations were due to outdated national public information on population and agricultural census in both areas, and the extension of the migrant families’ interviews sample. Conclusions: We conclude that food practices variations between both territories are mainly those related to elaboration techniques, new products incorporation and/or ingredients replacements. Additionally, those variations are accompanied by a re-signification, within the migrant context, about the food knowledge and meals consumption, which have a major impact on both identities

Objective: Propose a typology that allows to distinguish intensities of poverty among the poorest municipalities of the country, and from this, suggest differentiated public policies. Methodology: Based on official statistics, multivariate statistical methods are applied to form clusters and define public policy proposals for each. Results: In 7 out of 10 municipalities that represent 24% of the population, poverty is widespread, but when grouped into four conglomerates, different priorities and potentialities are observed. Limits: The municipal statistics available for poverty are from the year 2010. Conclusions: Poverty must be grouped, prioritized and combated with a mixed strategy of universalization and targeting. Each conglomerate demands a different way of combining or choosing between public investment, conditional transfers and promotion of rural agricultural and non-agricultural employment.

Objective: To assess how agroecology allows the integration of socio-economic activities in the rural area, addressing therefore a sustainable design for development. Methodology: published and current discussions about rural concept are addressed. From there, the definition of rural tourism is also examined. Results: An important result is the analysis about the usefulness of agroecology to engender endogenous and local development in rural areas in Quintana Roo, in which tangible and intangible heritage are integrated in current development. Limitations: A limitation of this proposal is that this design is ascribed to a specific context, thus it is replicable when similar circumstances are corroborated. Conclusions: The main conclusion refers an alternative design proposal for development, based on rural tourism but not emphasising in natural resources exclusively but instead incorporating the rural areas complexity.

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Objective: make an economic valuation of the consumption and production of raw materials for the production of biodiesel in Guatemala. Methodology: was the Contingent Valuation Method (MVC) to estimate the economic-environmental value that consumers and producers give to the production of the raw materials Higuerillo (Ricinus communis) and Piñón (Jatropha curcas) for the generation of biodiesel. In the case of the African Palm (Elaeis guinnensis), the valuation method called Productivity Change was used to establish the surplus of the producer and the Contingent Valuation Method to determine the consumers surplus. Results: The results of the environmental economic valuation analysis, report total welfare or surpluses for the consumption of biodiesel. The production of the three raw materials at present value in the order of US $71 billion for a period of fifteen years and with the goal replacing 80% of diesel with biodiesel with the cultivation and production of 374,832 hectares. Of this total surplus, 99.76% is given by the consumer’s surplus that the welfare of the producers of raw materials at current value was estimated at US $169 million. Limitations: are those of the economic valuation methodology that was used, since generating hypothetical markets can lead to information biases that are reduced by the statistical techniques used. Conclusions: it is recommended that the allocation of resources should be oriented to the demand of the buyers that most value the consumption of biodiésel, that is to say those that show a greater disposition to pay (DAP).

Objective: Analyze the working methods, which affect the productivity of the Sonora’s table grape, production system. Methodology: Through the bimanual analysis of micromovements, it was done a study the times and motion of laborers was carried out during the packing of table grapes. Results: The main findings show that there are differences in the time invested by laborers, and in the packaging skills and techniques implemented. Limitations: Because that the research is based on a case study, the results obtained do not express the general scenario of the Sonora’s table grape system. Conclusions: The application of the methodology of the study of work methods in a Sonora’s table grape system represents a favorable option to increase the labor productivity and the income level of laborers.

Afternoon falling, in an old stone room at Mas del Rivet, in Provence, two dozen wine professionals gather for an unprecedented experience to discover the taste of pesticides in blind tasting. The hands head towards the glasses, the looks cross with suspicion, the effluvia of the white wines, one organic, the other not, sprinkle the knowing noses. Samples of the pesticides found in conventional wine and diluted in water await for comparison in the water in a second row - each one already throws them a suspicious look - but for now the tasters smell, savor and compare both wines. There is a deep silence, in which a joint exclamation resounds (Douzelet and Séralini, 2018: 15, all translations by the authors).