Socio-Environmental Impacts of the Avocado Boom in the Meseta Purépecha, Michoacán, Mexico

Alfonso De la Vega-Rivera and Leticia Merino-Pérez
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Alfonso De la Vega-Rivera: Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico
Leticia Merino-Pérez: Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 13, 1-18

Abstract: The rapid expansion of avocado orchards in the Meseta Purépecha, in the state of Michoacán in central Mexico, has mostly been driven by the increasing demand of North American consumers in the context of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). While the cultivation of avocado has produced regional economic growth, economic profits are strongly concentrated, notably in the hands of American agribusiness, while its regional and local environmental impacts increasingly affect indigenous and rural communities, the most vulnerable groups in that region. Our work describes the diverse impacts of avocado industrial production on local livelihoods, communal rights, and public health and also reviews the policies and incentives that have favored avocado expansion in the Purépecha region. We compared the land-use change and socio-ecological deterioration associated with avocado expansion in the majority of the Meseta with the indigenous community of San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro also in that region, where strong community institutions have enabled San Juan to limit avocado expansion and maintain the communal forests.

Keywords: land-use change; deforestation; avocado expansion; avocado production chain; social impacts; environmental impacts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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