Small-Scale Food Production in the Pandemic: Perspectives from Mexico and Guatemala / Producción de alimentos en pequeña escala durante la pandemia: perspectivas desde México y Guatemala

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: As researchers conducting fieldwork in the era of COVID-19 in Mexico and Guatemala, we observed how the pandemic dramatically altered small-scale food production systems. Given the differentiated impacts of COVID-19 on agri-food systems and the diversity of strategies implemented across scales in Mexico and Central America (Lopez-Ridaura et al., 2021), we present three perspectives to highlight the variability in socioeconomic disruptions, local market alterations, and responses among (a) smallholder members of Guatemalan farmer organizations involved in agroecology from A.M. Rice, (b) agroecological producers in Oaxaca, Mexico from L.M. Choi, and (c) small-scale fishers in Baja California Sur (BCS), Mexico from J.W. Dean. We find variability in the effects of supply chain disruptions and the spectrum of shifts to alternative products or markets, as mediated through localized producer networks. We focus on the immediate impacts and responses to the pandemic (reporting primarily on fieldwork between 2020–2022).