Changes over Time Matter: A Cycle of Participatory Sustainability Assessment of Organic Coffee in Chiapas, Mexico

Aldo Daniel Jiménez-Ortega, Alonso Aguilar Ibarra, J. Mauricio Galeana-Pizaña and Juan Manuel Núñez
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Aldo Daniel Jiménez-Ortega: Programa de Posgrado en Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Alonso Aguilar Ibarra: Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico
J. Mauricio Galeana-Pizaña: Centro de Investigación en Ciencias de Información Geoespacial (CentroGeo), Mexico City 14240, Mexico
Juan Manuel Núñez: Centro Transdisciplinar Universitario para la Sustentabilidad (CENTRUS), Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City 01219, Mexico

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: This paper discusses how to incorporate the changes within an agroecosystem into sustainability assessment. We measured the sustainability of 86 organic coffee producers located in 4 municipalities of Sierra Madre of Chiapas, Mexico. Based on the MESMIS framework, a set of indicators was selected. A sustainability index was constructed using the multi-criteria decision method known as the analytical hierarchy process in a broad participatory process with producers and cooperatives. Likewise, classification of producers was carried out through land use transitions in their lands between 1999 and 2019 using satellite imagery. A variance analysis between classes was performed to identify statistical differences. The results show that producers who expand their coffee plantations into forested areas have more sustainability levels than those producers who convert agricultural activities into coffee plantations and producers with both transitions in coffee expansion-conversion. The indicators of labor efficiency, benefit-to-cost ratio, price, remnant of primary vegetation, recovery of production from natural phenomena, family succession, and producer land area showed statistical differences between classes. These results are relevant because sustainability assessment is an action-oriented method. Therefore, the contribution of this study can help guide recommendations for specific groups of producers.

Keywords: sustainability index; sustainability assessment; agroecosystem; organic coffee (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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