Assessing adaptive capacity to climate change is a complex task since it is a multidimensional component. There has been considerable discrepancy between the dimensions or elements that compose it. This study aimed to analyze the relevant dimensions and indicators that allow estimation of the adaptive capacity to climate change and to propose a set of indicators that will enable their application to assessment at the level of agricultural producers. A systematic review of scientific literature on evaluating or measuring adaptive capacity to climate change was carried out. Subsequently, the indicators were analyzed and selected through a coincidence analysis and were calibrated through a multicriteria evaluation with relevant actors in the southern Mexico, state of Chiapas. In total, 329 indicators were identified and analyzed. As a result, 19 indicators were selected and then grouped into six dimensions: economic resources, human resources, infrastructure for production and marketing, institutionality, social capital, and natural resources. These represent the 14 specific dimensions with the greatest potential to contribute to the estimation of adaptive capacity to climate change. The dimensions and indicators can be applied to assess the adaptive capacity of farmers in Mexico at a national or regional scale and specifically by producer types.

Background. Considering the current importance of recognizing the potential of traditional agroecosystems, including homegardens in the sustainable development of many rural and urban communities, strategists and scientists around the world are showing increasing interest in their study. Objective. Analyze the scientific literature relevant to the scope and constraints of homegardens (HGs), and to identify gaps and research perspectives, especially for indigenous communities in Mexico. Methodology. A total of 335 studies published in the last decades (1986-2020) were collected from different databases using predefined keywords. All publications were organized and stored in the Zotero (2018) program. The trends of all the publications were analyzed using NVivo 12 Plus software. Results. The number of publications increased from the year 2000. About 70% of the publications analyzed were research articles in english. Of the total studies examined 239 (71.35%) were conducted in different parts of the world, of which 30% from Asia and the remaining 96 (28.65%) from Mexico, primarily in tropics. Most of these studies focused on ecological (62.98%), economic (20.29%), cultural (13.43%), social (7.46%) and multifunctional features (12.23%) of HGs. The same pattern was identified in the case of Mexico, with studies of 10.74%, 5.07%, 5.67%, 0.597%, and 3.58% focused on ecological, economic, cultural, social and the multifunctionality features of HGs respectively. Implications. The analysis of the scope and limitations of HGs contributes to identifying the need to carry out transdisciplinary research that reflects their whole dynamics as agroecosystems, in which, in addition to the ecological environment, there are various cultural aspects considered important in the indigenous communities of Mexico. Conclusions. The publications emphasized the importance of homegardens to provide multiple ecosystem functions and services to enhance human well-being. However, future research should reevaluate HGs based on a holistic multi-functional agriculture approach to promote them as one of the strategies conducive to improve family well-being. Also, it is suggested to evaluate the degree of sustainability of HGs based on its resilience and adaptation capacity to confront current challenges.

Entrepreneurial skills are fundamental to the success of agricultural production units. Since small-scale farmers have developed production skills but not market-oriented skills, it is necessary to assess their entrepreneurial skills to provide a reference for sustainable community development plans. The objective was to evaluate the entrepreneurial ability of small-scale farmers in San Pablo Huixtepec, Oaxaca, using the Rasch–Andrich rating scale, a psychometric model that makes it possible to obtain measurements with a certain degree of precision. A survey was conducted among 45 small-scale farmers to collect the characteristics of their production unit, the characteristics of the small-scale farmers, and to determine their entrepreneurial skills (17 items). The data were processed using Winsteps software. Item 14 “I easily market what I produce” was eliminated because it did not contribute to the unidimensionality of the variable. The data fit the model and the Rasch–Andrich thresholds and, together with the category probability curves, demonstrated the good performance of the rating scale. The entrepreneurial ability ranged from −1.54 to 10.11 logits. Since most of producers (66.6%) were below average (1.09 logits), it is considered pertinent to support them to improve their ability.

Mexico has a wide range of biophysical and socioeconomic conditions that result in farmers with highly diverse traits and activities in relation to their livelihoods. The aim of this research was to identify specific traits of Mexican farmers that would allow them to be classified through a multidimensional approach that includes the risk of production in the face of exposure and vulnerability to climate change. The method included three dimensions: producer sensitivity, production destination, and exposure to climate change. Principal component analysis combined with the Dalenius and Hodges optimal stratification technique was used to stratify the universe of agricultural producers. The results show that up to 227 groups of agricultural producers can be identified in Mexico, and it was possible to classify them into 19 types, ranging from agricultural producers at greatest risk due to the adverse effects of climate change to agricultural producers with fewer difficulties to produce in conditions of climate change. This proposed multidimensional typology of agricultural producers can become an essential input for designing, reorienting, or focusing public policies in the agricultural sector and moving towards fulfilling the commitments declared in the INDC-2030.

La presión urbana sobre los recursos forestales que conforman la estructura verde de los asentamientos humanos pone en riesgo la provisión de los servicios ecosistémicos y su funcionamiento. El objetivo de esta investigación fue estimar el valor económico de cinco servicios ecosistémicos que ofrece la estructura verde de cuatro sistemas forestales periurbanos en Tequexquináhuac, Texcoco de Mora, Estado de México. Se realizó un censo y análisis económico para cada sistema utilizando el programa i-Tree Eco. Se determinó una población arbórea de 276 individuos dentro de los cuatro sistemas forestales periurbanos, se comprobó que estos almacenan 13.04 toneladas de carbono con un valor de MXN 48 166; y que los valores funcionales anuales del arbolado periurbano evaluado proporcionaron: captura de carbono de 690.26 kg año-1 (MXN 2545); escurrimiento evitado 74.95 kg año-1 (MXN 3144); eliminación de la contaminación 58.94 kg año-1 (MXN 136 100); producción de oxígeno 1840.7 kg año-1; y un costo de remplazo conjunto de MXN 1 086 000. Los resultados demuestran que los servicios ecosistémicos generados por la estructura verde de los cuatro sistemas forestales periurbanos brindan un servicio tangible en el desarrollo ambiental, económico y social del asentamiento urbano.

La evaluación de los árboles monumentales es una actividad importante para promover su preservación. Según la revisión bibliográfica realizada, se encontró que, actualmente, no existe una legislación clara y suficiente en México para brindar protección a este tipo de individuos arbóreos. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar la monumentalidad de árboles urbanos en México, con la participación de 15 expertos en el tema. Los ejemplares evaluados fueron: "El Tule"; "El Sabino"; "El Ahuehuete"; "La Higuera"; "El Baobab"; "El Ginkgo" y "El Árbol de los Acuerdos"; todos ellos ubicados en diferentes estados del territorio mexicano. Se definieron cinco criterios para la evaluación: tamaño del árbol, estado de conservación, importancia cultural, importancia del paisaje y rareza. El establecimiento de los criterios se basó en metodologías conocidas y utilizadas en la valoración de los árboles. El método PROMETHEE II se utilizó para determinar la monumentalidad. Los resultados del estudio indicaron que el "El Tule" y el "Árbol de los Acuerdos", localizados en el estado de Oaxaca y el Estado de México, respectivamente son los árboles que tienen características particulares que los hacen destacar sobre el resto de los individuos considerados en el estudio. El valor de monumentalidad más destacado fue para "El Tule", debido a que las evaluaciones de los expertos mostraron las preferencias más altas a favor del conjunto de atributos que lo caracterizan.