气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Explaining the 'hungry farmer paradox': Smallholders and fair trade cooperatives navigate seasonality and change in Nicaragua's corn and coffee markets

CCPortal

DOI	10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.02.005
	Explaining the 'hungry farmer paradox': Smallholders and fair trade cooperatives navigate seasonality and change in Nicaragua's corn and coffee markets
	Bacon C.M.; Sundstrom W.A.; Flores Gómez M.E.; Ernesto Méndez V.; Santos R.; Goldoftas B.; Dougherty I.
发表日期	2014
ISSN	0959-3780
卷号	25 期号:1
英文摘要	Latin American smallholder coffee farmers linked with fair trade and organic markets are frequently cited as models for sustainable food systems. Yet many experience seasonal hunger, which is a very common, but understudied, form of food insecurity. Northern Nicaragua's highlands include well-organized cooperatives, high rural poverty rates, and rain dependent farms, offering a compelling study area to understand what factors are associated with seasonal hunger. This participatory mixed methods study combines data from observations, interviews and focus groups with results from a survey of 244 cooperative members. It finds that seasonal hunger is influenced by multiple factors, including: (1) annual cycles of precipitation and rising maize prices during the lean months; (2) inter annual droughts and periodic storms; and (3) the long-term inability of coffee harvests and prices to provide sufficient income. Sampled households experienced an average of about 3 months of seasonal hunger in 2009. A series of five least squares regression models find the expected significant impacts of corn harvest quantity, farm area, improved grain storage, and household incomes, all inversely correlated with lean months. Unanticipated results include the finding that households with more fruit trees reported fewer lean months, while the predominant environmentally friendly farming practices had no discernable impacts. The presence of hunger among producers challenges sustainable coffee marketing claims. We describe one example of a partnership-based response that integrates agroecological farm management with the use of fair trade cooperative institutions to re-localize the corn distribution system. Increased investments and integrated strategies will be needed to reduce threats to food security, livelihoods, and biodiversity associated with the rapid spread of coffee leaf rust and falling commodity prices. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
英文关键词	Agroecology; Central America; Food systems; Institutions; Participatory action research; Vulnerability
学科领域	Zea mays
语种	英语
scopus关键词	Zea mays
来源期刊	Global Environmental Change
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/117808
作者单位	Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95050-4901, United States; Department of Economics, Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053, United States; Community Agroecology Network, 595 Franklin Street, Santa Clara, CA 95050, United States; Plant and Soil Science Department, University of Vermont, The Bittersweet - 153 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States; International Development, Community, and Environment Department, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, United States
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Bacon C.M.,Sundstrom W.A.,Flores Gómez M.E.,et al. Explaining the 'hungry farmer paradox': Smallholders and fair trade cooperatives navigate seasonality and change in Nicaragua's corn and coffee markets[J],2014,25(1).
APA	Bacon C.M..,Sundstrom W.A..,Flores Gómez M.E..,Ernesto Méndez V..,Santos R..,...&Dougherty I..(2014).Explaining the 'hungry farmer paradox': Smallholders and fair trade cooperatives navigate seasonality and change in Nicaragua's corn and coffee markets.Global Environmental Change,25(1).
MLA	Bacon C.M.,et al."Explaining the 'hungry farmer paradox': Smallholders and fair trade cooperatives navigate seasonality and change in Nicaragua's corn and coffee markets".Global Environmental Change 25.1(2014).