Abstract. Two of the biggest challenges of humanity are Resumen. Uno de los mayores desafíos de la humanidad
to achieve global food security by reducing environmental es alcanzar la seguridad alimentaria global reduciendo los
impacts, and provide healthy diets for all people. In this impactos ambientales y alcanzado dietas sanas para todas las
paper, we discuss the complexity involved in designing personas. En este artículo, hacemos una reflexión sobre la
solutions on food security. We focus on Mexico due to the complejidad de diseñar soluciones para la seguridad alimen-
heterogeneity of the country in relation to socioeconomic, taria. Nos enfocamos en México por su heterogeneidad en
cultural and ecological factors. First, we discuss the need relación a factores socioeconómicos, culturales y ecológicos.
to analyze food security by integrating the sustainability Primero, discutimos la necesidad de analizar la seguridad
of both food production and food consumption. Then alimentaria integrando la sustentabilidad de la producción
we describe the Mexican situation by analyzing five food y consume de alimento. Luego, describimos la situación de
production-consumption systems that illustrate the diversity México al analizar cinco sistemas de producción-consumo
of agricultural systems and dietary patterns. This analysis de alimento que ilustran la diversidad de sistemas agrícolas y
reveals that the pathway to achieve food security in Mexico patrones alimenticios de México. Con este análisis demostra-
should include sustainable food production systems and mos que el camino para alcanzar la seguridad alimentaria
dietary patterns. The solution should be site-specific consid- debe incluir tanto un sistema productivo sustentable como
ering the ecological, socioeconomic and cultural situation, una dieta sustentable. La solución debe ser sitio-específica
so an integrative geographical perspective is needed with a considerando la situación socioeconómica, cultural y
bottom-up approach; in this way, food security for future ecológica.; por lo que se necesita una perspectiva integral
generation will not be compromised. To reach this, transver- geográfica con un enfoque “bottom-up”. De esta manera,
sal policies involving the agricultural, health, environmental no se comprometerá la seguridad alimentaria de futuras
and federal agencies are required. generaciones. Para esto, se necesitas políticas transversales
entre las instancias/agencias gubernamentales agrícolas,
Keywords: Food Security; Mexico; Sustainability; Agricul- salud y ambientales federales.
ture; Dietary patterns; Nutrition.
* Instituto de Geografía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510,
Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, México. Phone (52) 55+5622 4335. fax +5616 2143.
1 Corresponding author, lgalicia@igg.unam.
M. J. Ibarrola-Rivas and L. Galicia Rethinking Food Security in Mexico: Discussing the Need for Sustainable...
Palabras clave: seguridad alimentaria, sustentabilidad, addressed from both the production and the con-
agricultura, patrones dietéticos, nutrición. sumption spheres; for example, changing produc-
tion systems to a more sustainable production and
shifting diets to lower meat consumption (Foley
INTRODUCTION 2011, Ranganathan et al. 2016, Davids et al. 2016,
Godfray etal 2010a/b, Godfray etal. 2014). These
Recent literature has shown the urgency to address studies stress the need to implement integrated
global food security by reducing environmental policies to solve the issue. However, global solu-
impacts and achieving healthy diets for all people tions should be tailored for each particular country,
(Davids et al. 2016, Foley et al. 2011, Godfray due to the marked differences between countries
et al. 2010a, Godfray et al. 2010b, Godfray et al. in terms of the socioeconomic, political, cultural
2014). The current use of natural resources for and environmental circumstances.
human consumption is reaching the planetary
limits, with global food production as a major The Mexican Context as Study Case
driver (Rockström et al. 2009). In the coming Mexico is a novel country to look at when address-
decades, the global population will increase in ing food security. It is one of the transition coun-
both numbers and affluence. This means that there tries where the diet of its inhabitants is evolving
will be more people with a more luxurious food at a fast pace due to urbanization and the increase
consumption, so more resources will be demanded. in income (Rivera et al. 2004). Furthermore, the
Rich diets have a higher environmental impact, as current status of the food system shows complex
affluent diets that are rich in animal food products and diverse issues in both agricultural production
require more resources per person than basic diets and food consumption. As regards agricultural
(Kastner et al. 2012, Hoekstra et al. 2012, Leach production, there is a large diversity in agricultural
et al. 2012, Ranganathan et al. 2016, Shibata et practices that translates into an heterogeneous
al. 2016). Diets are changing faster in developing productivity and the various environmental issues
countries due to the rapid urbanization, increased related to it. The reasons are complex and involve
socioeconomic development, retail food services socioeconomic, agro-climatic and cultural condi-
and fast food (Kearney 2010). tions. Mexico is a megadiverse country that offers
A large proportion of the global population optimal conditions for a number of crop types
does not have access to a healthy diet, even though (Sarukhan et al. 2010). The socioeconomic situ-
global per-capita food consumption has increased ation of farmers ranges from low-income small
in the past decades (FAO 2013). Malnutrition is producers with small-scale farms and low use of
still a current issue, and fighting hunger is FAO’s agricultural inputs, to high-income producers with
main target since some 800 million people are large-scale farms and a substantial use of inputs. For
currently undernourished worldwide (FAO et al. instance, according to the 2007 National Census of
2015). Today’s rapid changes in the diet in develop- Agriculture, 50% of farmers engaged in maize corn
ing countries are not improving nutrition. Obesity production had less than 1.5 hectares per farmer
more than doubled at a global level since 1980, and (INEGI, 2007). These farmers produced less than
nowadays almost 2 billion people are overweight 10% of the total maize production in Mexico, with
(WHO 2016), resulting in serious chronic diseases very low crop yields. In contrast, large-scale maize
(FAO, 2016). Obesity is a global epidemic and, producers (which own more than 10 ha per farmer)
in many countries, it is taking over malnutrition. represent a mere 4% of all farmers engaged in maize
Thus, global food security involves two major production. These large-scale farmers produced
complex issues: the large resource use and environ- 50% of the total maize production in Mexico,
mental impact related to food production, and the with very high crop yields (INEGI, 2007). The
nutritional status of the global population. Several technologies used by each farmer are also widely
studies have shown that food security should be diverse, resulting in contrasting productivities and
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M. J. Ibarrola-Rivas and L. Galicia Rethinking Food Security in Mexico: Discussing the Need for Sustainable...
environmental problems. For instance, in relation of animal food products, vegetable oils, sugar and
with irrigation, in a national average in 2014, maize fruits (Martínez Jasso et al., 2003).
production using irrigation reached crop yields of This complex situation in both agricultural
8 tonnes per hectare in contrast with 2.3 tonnes production and nutrition throughout the country
per hectares with rain-fed maize production (SIAP, points to the urgency to solve the food-security is-
2016). Consequently, irrigated systems involve a sue for the Mexican population within an integrat-
considerable consumption of water and a low use ed geographic framework. Society demands natural
of land per kilogram of crop produced, relative to resources (land, water, nutrients) to produce food
rain-fed agriculture. This illustrates the important in agricultural systems. On the one hand, the type
trade-offs between the different production systems of food demand leads to nutritional issues related to
in terms of use of agricultural inputs. socioeconomic and cultural factors. On the other,
On the other hand, there are marked differ- the type of production entails environmental and
ences in food consumption patterns throughout social costs. Usually, the demand for food (urban
the Mexican population leading to diverse nutri- areas) is spatially away from food-production sites
tional issues. Only 14% of the Mexican population (agricultural systems). Geography is the ideal ap-
have no nutritional health issues; the rest suffers proach to understand the interrelationships among
malnutrition, overweight or other nutritional dis- these social, economic and environmental factors
orders (Castillo Negrete, 2013). Malnutrition has at different spatial and temporal scales.
improved in the last decades; however, it is still a The aim of this paper is to illustrate that the
serious problem in many sectors of the population. analysis of food security in Mexico requires, first,
Child malnutrition reaches 7% in urban areas and understanding the specific cultural, socioeco-
14% in the rural population (UNICEF, 2016). nomic and environmental context, and, second,
In addition, obesity and overweight are becom- the integration of food production and consump-
ing a threat to the Health System (Secretaría de tion. In this paper, i) the concept of food security
Salud, 2013). In 2012, almost two thirds of the is discussed in the context of Mexico, ii) food
Mexican population older than 20 years and one production-food consumption scenarios are laid
third of school children (5-11 years) were either out, which illustrate the diversity of food produc-
overweight or obese (ENSANUT, 2012). The root tion and consumption schemes in Mexico. Then,
causes of the nutritional issues are complex given the sustainability of each scenario (environmental,
the socioeconomic, demographic and cultural economic and social costs of production and con-
situation of the population. In the late twentieth sumption) is analyzed, and iii) alternative scenarios
century, the opening of trade borders between to achieve food security in Mexico are discussed.
Mexico and the USA led to a rapid shift in the
national food supply, introducing processed food
that boosted the diabetes epidemic (Castillo Ne- MEXICAN FOOD SECURITY
grete, 2013). Furthermore, the rapid urbanization FRAMEWORK
has contributed to the increased overweight issues
in the Mexican population, since it is linked to a Food Security
sedentary life and an increased consumption of fast The United Nations Food and Agricultural Orga-
food and processed food products (Kearney, 2010). nizations (FAO) defines Food Security as follows
Navarro-Meza et al. (2014) show the difference in “Food security exists when all people, at all times,
food consumption between the rural and urban have physical, social and economic access to sufficient,
population in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, where safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary
the urban population has a larger consumption needs and food preferences for an active and healthy
of fat-rich food. Additionally, the socioeconomic life” (World Food Summit 1996) (FAO 2008). This
status has a large impact on the dietary pattern. The definition focuses on increasing food production
poor sector of the population shows a low intake and/or food availability to achieve food security.
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global and local changes in climate, socioeconomic the requirements of land (Kastner et al. 2012),
changes and globalization. A stable, resilient and water (Hoeskstra et al. 2012) and other agricul-
sustainable food production system should provide tural inputs such as nitrogen (Leach et al. 2012;
the greatest variety of ecosystem services (Power Shibata et al. 2016). Agricultural resources (land,
2010): production, cultural, regulation and sup- water, nutrients, energy) used for the production
port services. Due to the marked differences in of non-essential food items should be avoided. In
agro-climatic conditions in Mexico, production this way, the use of resources under a sustainable
systems will highly divert throughout the coun- food consumption scenario will reduce the total use
try. Each site should identify which management of resources by the Mexican population, hence in-
system and crops are the best suited to the local ag- creasing the resilience of the national food system.
roclimatic, socioeconomic and cultural conditions. Figure 2 shows several aspects of the agricul-
Not only sustainable food production is needed; tural system which are outside the definition of
sustainable food consumption is also essential. We food production, i.e. the production of non-food
define sustainable food consumption as a healthy items such as biofuels and drugs, which competes
and nutritious diet requiring the least resources with the production of food crops. Whether the
possible to produce food. This type of consumption production of biofuels should be considered as a
would eliminate malnutrition and obesity issues sustainable fuel is controversial, given the strong
across the country. Therefore, sufficient macro- and competition with food (Rathmann et al. 2010,
micronutrients for a healthy life should be included Tilman et al. 2009). In Mexico, biofuel production
in the diet, and, in contrast, non-essential food has been subsidised by the government through
items -- salty snacks, sodas, meat that is not neces- several programs. For instance, the 2009-2012 Na-
sary for a healthy diet -- should not be included tional Program for the Production of Sustainable
in the diet. Furthermore, agricultural resource Fuel (SAGARPA 2009) promoted the production
requirements should be at the lowest possible; of five main crops: jatropha, “higuerilla”, sugar
therefore, footprint analysis is needed to calculate cane, sugar beet and sweet sorghum. Furthermore,
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the amount of arable land in Mexico used for il- medical care. In this strategy, SAGARPA is one of
legal drug production is unknown, yet it is clearly the collaborators, though its task is neither strong
competing with food production. This is a sensitive nor a pillar for the strategy. SAGARPA’s role is
issue due to the legality and (political) power of to support self-sufficient farmers (campesinos),
drug producers. Nonetheless, any discussion on increase subsidies to poor producers, and promote
food security and the need of arable land requires urban gardens.
to consider drug production. This review shows that food security is one of
Thus, this framework shows that food security, the priority topics in the agenda of the Mexican
by definition, is sustainable for including both government. Several governmental agencies (Agri-
sustainable food production and sustainable food culture, Health, Federal) are managing this topic,
consumption. A sustainable production for an but they do it separately, with no coordination
unsustainable and unsustainable production diet between them, which results in not linking issues
does not lead to food security. and solutions that are indirectly connected.
As regards government food security programs,
policies and strategies in Mexico, the Secretariat of Crop Production Systems and Ecosystem
Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisher- Services
ies and Food (SAGARPA) developed, in collabora- We have identified four types of production sys-
tion with the FAO, the Strategic Project for Food tems that illustrate the spectrum of crop produc-
Security (PESA) (SAGARPA 2015). This project tion systems throughout the country. For each
focuses on improving sustainable food security in system we have identified their main ecosystem
extremely poor rural areas by providing goods and services, described below. Ecosystem services are
services. However, PESA does not address food se- classified based on their type, as follows: produc-
curity in urban areas or for the rest of the Mexican tion, support, regulation and cultural services
population. Another program is the “Sustainable (Power 2010). Production services refer to the
Modernization of Traditional Agriculture program” productivity of the agroecosystem based on the
(MasAgro: masagro.mx), developed by SAGARPA crop yield obtained. Support services refer to soil
in collaboration with the International Maize and retention, carbon storage, humidification and
Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT). This nutrient supply. Regulation services refer to air,
program focuses on improving stability and profit- water and soil quality, pest control, biodiversity and
ability of maize and wheat crop yields. pollinators. Cultural services refer to recreation,
In relation with other instances, the Develop- education, wellbeing, cultural heritage, native crops
ment Plan of the current government (Peña Nieto conservation, job sources.
2013) points to the need to have an indicator of A) Extensive Traditional Systems: small pro-
“food insecurity” measuring access to quantity and duces, low/no external inputs, low crop yields,
quality food. This indicator addresses the extremely mismanagement practices: soil depletion, erosion,
poor population, focusing on solving malnutrition deforestation. López-Ridaura et al. (2002) have
only, but neglecting other nutritional issues such shown that this type of system is characterized by
as overweight and obesity, which are currently higher soil erosion, higher risks, and lower crop
more prevailing nutritional health problems. As yields than an innovative system such as the milpa
regards obesity, in 2013 the federal government, system discussed below.
in collaboration with the Secretariat of Health and B) Agroecological Systems: the milpa system:
other Secretariats and Commissions, developed small producers, low-input systems, traditional
the National Strategy for the Prevention of Obe- management practices to avoid soil depletion
sity, overweight and Diabetes (Secretaria de Salud and erosion, local inputs (Bermeo et al. 2014,
2013). This strategy focuses on food consumption López-Ridaura 2002). It combines several crops
to raise awareness and promote changes in eating to increase resilience and food diversity for self-
habits, as well as on the health system to improve sufficiency of producers (Aguilar et al. 2003).
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Table 1. Ecosystem services provided by the four agricultural production systems selected
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nutritious consumption based on a high amount We combined the milpa and extensive systems
of cereals, legumes, nuts, vegetables and fruits, because doing so facilitates the identification of the
and a low consumption of animal food products. differences with local case studies of the resilience
Organic food products should have an eco-label of the system and the non-production ecosystem
to target this market. Some of the food products services (support, regulation and cultural): the
in this category are imported. This food pattern is milpa system has higher ecosystem services relative
new in Mexico, being stronger in other countries, to the extensive system.
the consumption of organic food in Mexico is on We have used the size of the agricultural
the rise as a result of the international influence. producer (cropland area) to identify extensive/
milpa and intensive systems. We considered that
Relevance of Production Systems and Diets in extensive/milpa systems are small (i.e. less than 1.5
Mexico hectares) and, in contrast, intensive systems have
The production systems and diets described above more than 10 hectares. According to the 2007
are not evenly distributed throughout the country National Agricultural-Livestock Census 2007
(systems) and the population (diets). Table 3 gives (INEGI, 2007), only 8% of the total cropland
an indication of the relevance of each system and area in Mexico was managed by small producers
diet in Mexico. (less than 1.5 hectares), and 58% of the cropland
Production systems
Demographic Socioeconomic Status Nutrition
Harvested area 1.7 Mha 13 Mha 0.4 Mha
(ha of cropland and % of total Mexican
8% 58% 0.3%
cropland)
Diets
Poor rural diet4 Milpa diet5 Transition urban diet6 Rich urban diet7 Organic diet8
Population9 8.8 million 8 million 51 million 11.7 million Less than 1 million
7.4% 6.7% 43% 10% >1%
Source of data: 1Crop producers with less than 1.5 ha of cropland, INEGI (2007) 2Crop producers with more than 10 ha of cropland,
INEGI (2007) 3CNPO (2017) 4Rural population with “low access to food”, CONEVAL (2012) 5 We assumed that the people consuming
this diet are maize producers owning less than 1.5 hectares and includes 6 family members, data from INEGI (2007) 6Urban population
with overweight issues: 70% of people older than 20 years, and 35% of people younger than 20 years old, ENSANUT (2016) 8 Assumption
by the authors 9 Total Mexican population in 2010: 117.9 million; urban: 91.71 million, rural: 26.19 million (CONEVAL, 2012).
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M. J. Ibarrola-Rivas and L. Galicia Rethinking Food Security in Mexico: Discussing the Need for Sustainable...
area was managed by large producers (more than area between 1.5-10 hectares and population with
10 hectares). However, the number of agricultural poor urban diets).
producers and the total production of each system
does not follow the same trend. For instance, for Linking food production and consumption: 5
maize production (the most important crop for scenarios and their sustainability
agriculture and food security in Mexico), 50% The five types of dietary patterns described above
of producers are small, suggesting a “campesino” (section 2.3) are commonly associated with certain
lifestyle and milpa production system, but they types of production systems as described above
grew only 8% of the total maize production in only (section 2.2). We have related these dietary patterns
12% of the cropland. In contrast, large producers to the production systems to describe 5 scenarios
represent only 4% of all producers and contribute for the food systems currently in Mexico. This
with 50% of total maize production in 40% of makes possible to evaluate the sustainability of
the total maize cropland area (own calculations these five scenarios to discuss potential strategies
from INEGI, 2007). Organic production systems to achieve food security in Mexico. The analysis
in Mexico have been increasing vigorously in the is discussed in the text below and illustrated in
last decades: the production area has undergone a Figure 3. Each sustainability pillar (economical,
20% increase in the last decades (CNPO,2017). environmental and social) of both food production
Today it represents a mere 0.3% of Mexico’s total and consumption is analysed. We discuss below
cropland area (CNPO, 2017). whether the combination of these 3 characteris-
In relation to diets, the most common diet in tics lead to resilient production and consumption
the Mexican population is the transition urban systems for future generations.
diet (43% of the population). The inhabitants The discussion of each sustainability pillar is
consuming this diet are persons who have over- based on the following characteristics (Table 4).
weight disorders in urban areas, and account for The environmental factors associated with crop
70% of the urban population older than 20 years production would imply local environmental issues
and 35% of the urban population younger than derived from the production system: pollution,
20 years. The rich urban diet is difficult to identify erosion, and soil degradation. The indicators of
because there is no clear indicator associated with this impact are the support, regulation and produc-
it, in contrast with the other diets (malnutrition, tion ecosystem services. The economic factors of
overweight or lifestyle) (peasants with milpa sys- crop production refer to the production costs for
tems). We assumed that the 10% richest sector of producers: access to inputs, subsidies and labels
the population shows this food pattern, and lives to target a certain market niche (e.g. eco-label).
mostly in urban areas. In the case of the poor rural The social factors of crop production refer to the
diet, we assumed that people consuming it have cultural importance of production to the farmer
“low access to food” in rural areas (CONEVAL, OR the health implications for the producer when
2012), and includes 8.8 million people. For the using certain inputs such as herbicides.
milpa diet, we assumed that maize producers with The environmental factor of food consumption
less than 1.5 hectares of crop land show this food refers to the per-capita use of resources according
pattern, and that each producer has 6 family mem- to the type of diet. Several studies have shown that
bers (8 million people). In relation to the organic affluent diets with large consumption of animal
diet, no data are available on the relevance of this food products consume more resources than staple
dietary pattern in Mexico, as it is a new trend; we diets (Hoekstra et al. 2012, Kastner et al 2012,
assumed that less than 1 million people consume Leach et al 2012, Shibata et al 2016). We discuss
this diet. Note that the percentage of each diet type this factor based on the consumption of animal
does not add to 100% because some production food products in the diet. The economic factor of
systems and diets in between them are not con- food consumption refers to the economic access
sidered (e.g., agricultural producers with cropland to food products: the costs for the consumer. The
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Table 4. Defining the 3 sustainability pillars for crop production and food consumption
indicator is food price. The social factor of food may not own agricultural land, which they use for
consumption is related to the nutrition status of self-sufficiency and sometimes yield a surplus to
the consumer, i.e. whether or not the food pattern generate income. The costs of crop production are
is leading to nutritional issues such as malnutrition, low since no external inputs are used. However, due
obesity or overweight. to mismanagement practices, severe land degrada-
The first scenario represents the typical situ- tion occurs compromising production for future
ation of extremely poor rural population. It is a generations. Therefore, this production system is
local system where production and consumption not resilient. From the consumption side, the food
occur in the same place. Local families may or pattern seems resilient in economic and environ-
1. Extensive system-poor rural diet 2. Milpa System-milpa diet 3. Intensive system-transition urban diet
PRODUCTION CONSUMPTION PRODUCTION CONSUMPTION PRODUCTION CONSUMPTION
Economic Economic
Economic Economic
Figure 3. Five scenarios of the current Mexican food system. Each graph illustrates the sustainability of both production
and consumption based on the definitions in Table 4.
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mental terms, given the low cost for consumers due under organic agriculture. The system resembles
to the self-sufficiency of the system and the low use scenario two in environmental and social terms
of resources per person. However, malnutrition is in that the system is extensive and involves good
common in this consumption system; therefore, management practices, while the diet is healthy
the whole consumption system is not resilient due and requires low amount of resources due to
to health issues. the low consumption of animal food products.
The second rural scenario is similar to the one However, reaching the market requires produc-
just described, but it does not involve extreme tion to be certified (eco-label). This involves high
poverty. Two major differences exist between them. costs for the producer. Therefore, although some
First, there are no issues derived from management producers included in scenarios 1 and 2 actually
practices, leading to a low incidence of environ- produce organic items, they cannot enter this urban
mental problems and high support, regulating market niche without a label. In addition, costs for
and cultural ecosystem services, all of which are consumers are high due to the label and because
important for producers. Second, the consumption some food products are imported. So, this system
pattern is more diversified, resulting in a healthy is not resilient either due to the high economic
diet with no malnutrition. All these characteristics costs. Furthermore, the system may involve high
result in a resilient system. energy costs if food products are imported. This
The third and fourth scenarios represent typical will depend on the source of food products and on
situations of food production for urban popula- how they were produced. Further analysis is needed
tions. Production takes place in highly intensive to identify energy costs.
systems with high input costs, resulting in high To conclude, Figure 3 shows that the most re-
crop yields. However, this system involves high silient production-consumption system is scenario
environmental impacts such as pollution, GHG 2 due to the low risks associated with agricultural
emissions, and health issues for producers due to production (resulting in a resilient production
use of herbicides and insecticides. The amount of system), low costs for both consumers and pro-
food produced is high; however, the system is not ducers, low per-capita resources (diet), healthy
resilient given the high environmental issues which diet and cultural importance of the production
compromise production for future generations system. However, to discuss whether this scenario
(high risks of harvest failure). The production-con- can provide effective food security, it should be
sumption system is not local, and a large amount assessed this system could be extrapolated to the
of energy is used for transportation, storage, food urban population. This gives rise to the following
processing and cooling. Consumption under the questions that should be addressed in detail in fur-
third scenario is unsustainable due to the health ther research: Is there enough land to produce food
issues (obesity) and middle amount of resource use for the whole Mexican population under a milpa
(due to large/middle consumption of animal food system? Would this system preserve its resilience
products). Consumption under the fourth scenario if expanded to produce the food required to meet
involves a higher diversity of food items (vegetables the needs of the whole Mexican population? What
and fruits) and a lower consumption of fats, which are the barriers (social, economic) to modify the
altogether results in a healthy diet. However, due to dietary patterns to adopt the milpa diet?
the large per-capita use of resources (high amounts
of affluent food items: animal food products,
vegetable oils), consumption is not resilient for DISCUSSION
future generations because it compromises resource
availability for food production due to the large Pathways to Achieve Food Security
per-capita requirements. A review of the government programs and strate-
Finally, the fifth scenario represents a new urban gies reveals that food security is an urgent topic in
trend in food consumption, with food produced Mexico (section 2.1).However, the government is
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not taking immediate measures to link solutions tablished between the different policy stakeholders
to the nutritional issues (malnutrition and obesity) (Olivier et al., 2010). For example, food (diets and
to solutions associated with food production, both nutrition) should be the cornerstone of public
in a sustainable way to ensure food security for policy(e.g. the Mexican Secretariat of Health),
the future. The recent report of the Commission focused on i) achieving good nutrition levels for
on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change all Mexicans, ii) improving food availability and
(Beddington et al. 2012) states that to achieve affordability (quantity and quality) for all Mexicans
long-term national food security, it is essential to at all times; iii) protecting vulnerable populations
incorporate food security and sustainable agri- from poverty-related food insecurity and malnu-
culture into national policies, reshape diets into trition, as well as from the perpetuation of acute
healthy and sustainable food patterns, and reduce food insecurity and malnutrition associated with
environmental issues. We propose that the pathway frequent and recurring emergencies, and the criti-
to integrate the food production and consumption cal interrelations between these phenomena. Then,
sustainability is through transversal public policies several agencies should be linked to it working as
which integrate decision-making forums and asso- action fields in charge of developing strategies aim-
ciated agricultural resources; this would ensure that ing to 1. support sustainable agricultural systems
agriculture, food security and nutrition programs (e.g. the Secretariat of Agriculture, SAGARPA); 2.
and policies involve all the Mexican population assess the environmental impacts of these systems
(Figure 4). (e.g. the Secretariat of Environment and Natural
A transversal policy should be coordinated by Resources, SEMARNAT); 3. promote changes
an agency working along with different “action in food consumption patterns (e.g. Secretariats
fields” agencies. Diet is a key driver to health, use of Education and of Finances: SHCP, SEP). The
of agricultural resources, and local environmental transversal policy should balance nutrition, ag-
and social impacts. Strategic links should be es- ricultural production, environmental and social
Ecosystem Services
Resilient Systems
Nutrition
Healthy diets for all people
Figure 4. Theoretical framework: food security in Mexico. 2a. Current status: a failed strategy 2b. Pathway to achieve
food security.
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M. J. Ibarrola-Rivas and L. Galicia Rethinking Food Security in Mexico: Discussing the Need for Sustainable...
costs; these issues include designing these policies animal food products. In this way, the demand of
and identifying mechanisms to reach at sustainable feed-crops will be reduced.
solutions regarding food security at a national level. The Mexican example used in this paper has
It is essential to consider: 1. the ecosystem services shown that the interactions between society (nutri-
associated with production systems (Table 1) to tion and food consumption patterns) and nature
reduce the environmental impacts of agriculture (agro-climatic and ecosystem services) are essential
and increase the resilience of production systems; for the design of the most sustainable strategy to
2. the nutritional status of the population, to reach achieve food security. This national strategy should
healthy diets; 3. the sustainability of food patterns, be based on the combination of local and national
to reduce the per-capita environmental impact. perspectives.Hence, a bottom-up approach is
In order to identify the production-con- needed. This analysis can only be performed from
sumption system and reach food security, a more an integrated geographical perspective. Thus, the
detailed analysis is needed, similar to the analysis challenge to achieve food security is enormous and
in section 2.4. For production systems, due to the complex, and therefore the solutions should also
ecological heterogeneity of the country, an analysis be complex as well as long-term and transversal.
of the ecosystem services for each region should be
conducted considering the specific agro-climatic Challenges for Reaching a Sustainable Pattern
and socioeconomic context in each region. Most The change to a sustainable food pattern involves
important, the system has to be resilient. As regards surpassing both cultural and economic barriers.
consumption patterns, diets such as the milpa diet The transition to an urban affluent diet in recent
(section 2.3), which involves a low consumption decades has been influenced by the “western
of animal products and a diversity of nutritious consumption pattern” associated with a higher
food, is the ideal combination to reach a healthy socioeconomic status. Unfortunately, this diet
diet under a low per-capita use of resources. involves a large environmental impact due to its
A sustainable agricultural system in Mexico is large consumption of animal products, and its
a need to ensure a safe and high-quality supply of reduction could be perceived as a the result of a
agricultural products, and safeguard the livelihood lower socioeconomic status. In contrast, the new
and well-being of farmers and their families. This food pattern, the “organic diet”, is not perceived as
should involve the collaboration between the gov- a low-status diet, although it is generally associated
ernment and food companies, ensuring consistency with vegetarian consumption and, therefore, with
between policies focused on agriculture, health, a low consumption of animal products. However,
nutrition, biodiversity and climate change. the costs of organic food products are high and
Furthermore, agricultural systems producing they can be an economic barrier for consumers to
cash crops for exports and no-food crops such as choose this dietary pattern.
biofuels and fibres should not be considered in the In contrast, the milpa diet involves both low
production-consumption system for food security costs of food products and a low environmental
(figure 2). A careful and detail analysis is needed impact because of the low consumption of animal
to consider the national trade-offs between these products, but it involves the perception of a low
goods and food, as well as the competition for socioeconomic status pointing to a “peasant-like”
land between them. Crops for livestock feed are (“campesino”) consumption pattern. A recent
indirect , although inefficient, food sources,: in study (Ibarrola-Rivas et al.2017) can be used to
general, 10 protein units from a crop are needed discuss the potential of the milpa diet to attain
to produce one protein unit of animal origin (Smil national food security. The study shows that the
2001). Therefore, diets rich in animal products are diet of the richest 10% of the population (large
considered unsustainable. In our approach, the consumption of animal products) requires 80%
sustainability of feed crops is addressed from the more land than the diet of the poorest 10% of
consumption end, by switching to diets with low- the population, who consume a a milpa-like diet.
13 • Investigaciones Geográficas • issn (digital): 2448-7279 • doi: 10.14350/rig.57538 • ARTÍCULOS • Núm. 94 • Diciembre • 2017
M. J. Ibarrola-Rivas and L. Galicia Rethinking Food Security in Mexico: Discussing the Need for Sustainable...
In 2050, assuming all population adopts the rich sectors. Transversal policies are needed to imple-
diet, all Mexican arable land would have to reach ment this strategy involving health, agricultural,
the crop yields of intensive systems (with high economic and federal instances to propose a fea-
environmental impacts). In contrast, if all people sible national solution to reach food security for all
changes to the basic diet, then it would be possible people. It is essential to incorporate a geographical
to produce all food in low-crop yield systems with approach to consider the Mexican heterogeneity in
low environmental impacts (Ibarrola-Rivas et al., terms of the socioeconomic, agro-climatic, cultural
2017). Again, this illustrates that the milpa diet and political contexts to identify the specific route
could be a solution for reaching food security in to achieve food security. Therefore, a national
Mexico. The challenge of the transversal policy strategy should be designed through a bottom-up
would be to overcome this cultural barrier and approach including strategies for reforming agricul-
promote the benefits for the consumer: preserve ture and food systems, biofuels, agricultural policies
a Mexican tradition and a healthy diet (with the and trade, food aid, land tenure, financing, farm
lowering of the risks associated with overweight), insurance and alternative agriculture.
lower the costs of food products. and reduce the
environmental impacts. Some studies have shown
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