UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA CHAPINGO DEPARTMENTO DE FITOTECNIA DOCTORADO EN CIENCIAS EN AGRICULTURA MULTIFUNCIONAL PARA EL DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE EVALUACIÓN DE LA SOSTENIBILIDAD A BASE DE RESILIENCIA INTEGRAL DE HUERTOS FAMILIARES EN EL TOTONACAPAN, MÉXICO TESIS Que como requisito parcial para obtener el grado de: DOCTOR EN CIENCIAS EN AGRICULTURA MULTIFUNCIONAL PARA EL DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE Presenta: INDUMATHI RAJAGOPAL Bajo la supervisión del: DR. JESÚS AXAYACATL CUEVAS SÁNCHEZ Mayo 2021 Chapingo, Estado de México CHAPINGO AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF PLANT SCIENCE DOCTORAL PROGRAM OF SCIENCE IN MULTIFUNCTIONAL AGRICULTURE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT EVALUATION OF THE SUSTAINABILITY BASED ON INTEGRAL RESILIENCE OF HOMEGARDENS IN TOTONACAPAN, MEXICO THESIS That as a partial requirement to obtain the degree of: DOCTOR OF SCIENCE IN MULTIFUNCTIONAL AGRICULTURE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Presents: INDUMATHI RAJAGOPAL Under the supervision of: DR. JESÚS AXAYACATL CUEVAS SÁNCHEZ May 2021 Chapingo, State of Mexico Thesis approval document by the advisory committee Evaluation of the sustainability based on integral resilience of homegardens in Totonacapan, Mexico Thesis carried out by (Indumathi Rajagopal) under the supervision of the committee advisor indicated, approved by the same, and accepted as a partial requirement to obtain the grade of: DOCTOR OF SCIENCE IN MULTIFUNCTIONAL AGRICULTURE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR: _________________________________________ DR. JESÚS AXAYACATL CUEVAS SÁNCHEZ ASESOR: ________________________________________ DR. JOSÉ LUIS ROMO LOZANO ASESOR: _________________________________________ DR. TEODORO GÓMEZ HERNÁNDEZ EXTERNAL ________________________________________ READER: DRA. MARÍA TERESA ROJAS RABIELA ii TABLE OF CONTENT TABLE OF CONTENT ....................................................................................... III INDEX OF TABLES ......................................................................................... VIII INDEX OF FIGURES .......................................................................................... X INDEX OF APPENDIX ..................................................................................... XIII DEDICATIONS ................................................................................................ XIV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. XV BIOGRAPHICAL DATA .................................................................................. XVII GENERAL ABSTRACT .................................................................................. XVIII RESUMEN GENERAL ..................................................................................... XIX 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1 1.1 Statement of the research problem .................................................... 3 1.2 Research justification ......................................................................... 5 1.3 General hypothesis ............................................................................. 8 1.4 General objective ................................................................................ 8 1.4.1 Specific objectives ....................................................................... 8 1.5 Summary ............................................................................................ 8 2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................... 10 2.1 Planetary boundaries and the impact of human activities ................. 10 2.1.1 The global state of the unprecedented environmental crisis ...... 10 2.1.2 The impact of agriculture on ecosystems ................................... 12 2.2 Global environmental impacts on food and agricultural systems ...... 14 2.2.1 Erosion of agro-biodiversity ........................................................ 14 iii 2.2.2 Global warming and climate change .......................................... 16 2.2.3 Water scarcity and eutrophication .............................................. 19 2.2.4 Degradation of land and soil erosion .......................................... 20 2.3 The global state of socioeconomic and cultural challenges .............. 21 2.3.1 Extreme poverty ......................................................................... 22 2.3.2 Food insecurity and malnutrition ................................................ 22 2.3.3 Global population dynamics ....................................................... 25 2.3.4 Urbanization and Migration ........................................................ 27 2.3.5 Erosion of traditional knowledge ................................................ 29 2.4 Homegardens as a strategy to contribute to a sustainable future through Multifunctional Agriculture ............................................................. 30 2.4.1 Evolution of sustainable development concept .......................... 30 2.4.2 Towards a new model of agriculture .......................................... 32 2.4.3 Multifunctional Agriculture .......................................................... 33 2.5 Promotion of traditional agroecosystems for sustainable livelihoods 34 2.5.1 The potential role of homegardens for sustainable development 35 2.6 General concepts relevant to the current research ........................... 38 2.6.1 Biocultural heritage .................................................................... 38 2.6.2 Agroecosystems ........................................................................ 41 2.6.3 Biological diversity ..................................................................... 42 2.6.4 Agrodiversity .............................................................................. 44 2.6.5 Cultural diversity ........................................................................ 47 2.6.6 The Totonacs ............................................................................. 48 2.6.7 Traditional knowledge ................................................................ 49 iv 2.6.8 Ethnobotany ............................................................................... 50 2.7 Resilience concept and sustainable development ............................ 52 2.7.1 Resilience theory ....................................................................... 52 2.7.2 The relevance of resilience to sustainable development ............ 55 2.8 Diverse approaches to assess resilience ......................................... 58 2.8.1 Resilience measurement in different fields ................................. 58 2.8.2 Resilience measurement in agricultural systems ....................... 61 2.9 Review of other methods considered in this study ............................ 62 2.9.1 Review of considered qualitative methods ................................. 62 2.9.2 Review of considered quantitative methods ............................... 64 2.10 LITERATURE CITED .................................................................... 64 3. HOMEGARDENS: STATE OF THE ART ................................................. 84 SUMMARY .................................................................................................... 85 RESUMEN .................................................................................................... 85 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 86 MATERIALS AND METHODS .......................................................... 87 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................... 87 Word frequency analysis ........................................................................ 88 Homegarden: A traditional agricultural practice ...................................... 88 The concept of HG .............................................................................. 88 Historical development of HG .............................................................. 91 Distribution of HG ................................................................................ 92 Characteristics of HG .......................................................................... 93 Types of HG ........................................................................................ 93 Management of HG ............................................................................. 93 Multifunctional role of HG for sustainable development .......................... 93 The Ecological Importance of HG ........................................................ 93 v The Economic importance of HG ........................................................ 97 The socio-cultural importance of HG ................................................... 98 Current status and challenges of HG ...................................................... 98 Summary of the research gaps & perspectives in the field of HG ........... 99 Limitations of the current review ............................................................. 99 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................... 99 REFERENCES ............................................................................... 100 4. ANALYSIS OF THE DIVERSITY OF SPECIES, STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF TOTONAC HOMEGARDENS IN PUEBLA, MEXICO* ........ 109 Abstract ....................................................................................................... 110 Resumen ....................................................................................................