Rural enterprise in Mexico: a case of necessity diversification

Gary Bosworth, Gerard McElwee and Rob Smith

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 2015, vol. 9, issue 4, 327-343

Abstract: Purpose - – This paper aims to consider the challenges facing small rural businesses in Mexico in their efforts to be enterprising and sustainable when confronted with severe exogenous pressures. Extant literature on farm diversification has a developed economy focus (Pyysiäinenet al., 2006; McElwee, 2008; McElwee and Smith, 2013), but relatively little has been published in developing economies. Design/methodology/approach - – This paper considers diversification activities of Mexican farmers. It uses case studies, workshops and interviews to determine the barriers facing farmers and farm advisors. Findings - – Farm businesses, particularly those located in drought-prone regions, have benefited from government-sponsored support, but this support needs to now be targeted to develop the entrepreneurial potential of individuals and collectives. Research limitations/implications - – Carried out in one region of Mexico only, and thus, the findings may not be transferable to other regions. Practical implications - – Recruitment of well-qualified, honest farm advisors with entrepreneurial skills is necessary. Farmers need to be given additional training and support to develop both technological and entrepreneurial skills. Social implications - – Encouraging and supporting rural enterprises in Mexico helps to provide opportunities for regions to be economically and socially sustainable. Originality/value - – A first attempt to look at farmers ' diversification strategies using an entrepreneurial framework.

Keywords: Farm diversification; Farm entrepreneurship; Mexican farmers; Rural Mexico (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jecpps:v:9:y:2015:i:4:p:327-343

DOI: 10.1108/JEC-05-2014-0006

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy is currently edited by Prof Leo Dana and Andrea Caputo

More articles in Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().