Peri-urban gardens favor spaces of resistance, San Felipe Ecatepec, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico

Abstract

Family farming is based on knowledge and techniques developed by generations, to establish integrated production systems with the purpose of achieving self-sufficiency and maintaining their subsistence. Achieving local, regional and global food sovereignty requires a deep understanding of agroecosystems. This research focused on knowing the effects of neoliberal policies such as the green revolution, urban expansion due to population growth and how the reduction of agricultural areas influences peri-urban agriculture and determinate ways of resistance in front of these dominant system pressures. Through participant observation, surveys, collection, and herbalization we identified plant species, their diversity, uses and richness. We found that family gardens in San Felipe Ecatepec, Chiapas, Mexico are systems, with subsystems, functions, composition and management, with a high number of species, richness from high to moderate, and the home gardens surfaces oscillating between 600 m² and 2500 m². Producing next to the house provides healthy and fresh food, creates a useful, productive space and conserve agrobiodiversity. It is an agroecosystem where each family and site or home garden interact with other families and other home gardens, integrating local knowledge, and offering a space for family coexistence. The home gardens can be considered spaces of resistance based on traditional knowledge, it also contributes to the control maintenance of their resources, and to individual and collective food sovereignty.