Resumen: En la era de la globalización el creciente intercambio internacional de productos alimenticios puede generar efectos inciertos en todos los rincones del mundo. Entre éstos, el clima, uso del suelo, condiciones socioeconómicas, políticas y culturales para el país exportador. En este estudio hicimos una revisión de la literatura para identificar evidencias de los efectos económicos, ambientales y sociales que han resultado de la expansión del cultivo de aguacate en Michoacán, México. México es el mayor productor de aguacate en el mundo y Michoacán concentra más del 80 por ciento de la superficie total sembrada del país. Los resultados indican que existe una mayor riqueza material para los productores de aguacate y para un grupo reducido de empresas transportistas, pero también existen repercusiones ambientales por el cambio de uso de suelo acelerado y uso excesivo de pesticidas que dañan los recursos hídricos y erosionan los suelos, originando un efecto cascada para la población local. Los resultados muestran evidencias de que la producción de aguacate tiene impactos económicos, ambientales y sociales; sin embargo, existe un vacío de investigación para comprender estos efectos a mayor profundidad. El artículo identifica áreas prioritarias que podrían ser exploradas en investigaciones futuras. In the time of globalization, the growing global food trade can have a major effect on every corner of the world. These include uncertain effects on the climate, use of land, socioeconomic concerns, and political and cultural conditions for exporting countries. In this study we performed a literature review to identify the evidence of the economic, environmental and social effects as a result of recent avocado plantation expansions in the avocado-producing area of Michoacan, Mexico. Mexico is the largest avocado producer in the world and Michoacan represents more than 80 percent of the total planted area of the country. The results show a greater wealth for producers and a small group of packinghouses due to avocado industry. There are also environmental concerns due to rapid land-cover changes and the overuse of pesticides that secrete into soils and groundwater with cascading effects for local people. Our results highlight the economic, environmental and social effects of the avocado industry; however, many gaps remain in our understanding. In this study we identified gaps in the current research and present some directions for future research.

Many forests under community use in tropical countries become degraded and lose carbon stocks as a result of agricultural activities such as shifting cultivation and cattle grazing, although these processes rarely result in deforestation. A better understanding of processes specifically causing forest degradation may be of interest to policy makers concerned with the design of programs to conserve forests, for example under international policy on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). On the basis of data from a farmer survey carried out in the western Pacific area of Mexico, this study uses a cross-sectional regression model to identify the variables that explain variations between groups of farmers in the amounts of land temporarily cleared for shifting cultivation, which results in decreasing the density of forest biomass. We found that, contrary to common perception about shifting cultivation, within each community, many farmers, both richer and poorer, carry out shifting cultivation. Moreover, it is the wealthier farmers that are making more temporary clearances for such activities when compared with those with less resources. We conclude that, for effectiveness in the design of national programs for REDD+, intra-community differences in farmer status should be taken into account. Moreover, REDD+ interventions should consider the impacts of this program on farmers without rights to land.

El objetivo del estudio es realizar una revisión del estado actual de la legalidad en la participación social y propiedad forestal reconocidas en la Estrategia Nacional para la Reducción de Emisiones por Deforestación y Degradación forestal (ENAREDD+), a fin de identificar los principales desafíos jurídicos y políticos que pudieran constituir áreas de oportunidad en el éxito de los principios de REDD+ en México. Se realizó una revisión de la literatura sobre el tema, de la ENAREDD+ y del marco jurídico asociados con la participación social y la propiedad forestal. Los principales hallazgos muestran que existe un reconocimiento distinto de los actores en la participación social y los alcances de la propiedad forestal al interior de la ENAREDD+, así como en el marco jurídico vigente, que pudieran cuestionar la legalidad forestal en México.

Global commodity chains reshape rural territories through interconnected environmental and socioeconomic processes; these dynamics are often examined through the lens of land-use change. Export-oriented agricultural frontiers illustrate how global market integration can generate landscape and societal transformations. In western Mexico, the expansion of the avocado industry exemplifies commodity-driven territorial change, linking land-use dynamics with transformations in rural economies and livelihoods. This study analyzes how export integration into the international avocado commodity chain was associated with transformations in land systems and socioeconomic dynamics across four municipalities in Michoacán, Mexico, between 2003 and 2023. Using high-resolution land-use maps alongside demographic and socioeconomic indicators, we apply a qualitative, comparative and inductive synthesis of spatial and census data to examine how commodity integration interacted with local conditions to shape landscape and territorial organization. Avocado expansion coincided with territorial transformation, including the conversion of pine-oak forest and traditional agricultural lands, as well as changes in labor arrangements, demographic dynamics, and rural livelihood systems. Land-use analysis shows continued orchard expansion and accelerated land conversion after 2015. Socioeconomic indicators reveal population growth, increased female employment, and persistent income inequality, highlighting the uneven incorporation of rural territories into global commodity chains. We identified four territorial pathways: agricultural specialization, agro-industrial urbanization, transitional diversification, and rural commodity integration. These findings contribute to debates on uneven geographical development and commodity frontier expansion by showing how global commodity integration intersects with ecological, economic, and social processes to generate distinct pathways.

Participation of forest communities in forest conservation management could increase the potential to achieve the goal of reducing emissions from forest degradation and mitigate climate change effects. Forest conservation requires a change (or cease) in economic activities that are traditionally practiced by forest communities which contribute to forest degradation. In this study we estimate the minimum amount of compensation required to forgo the main activities contributing to forest degradation. In order to do so, data collected from interviews made to farmers in Western Mexico were used. Results from the conditional logit model show the relative importance the interviewed farmers give to the traditional agricultural system, cattle grazing and lumber extraction (firewood and construction posts). Without proper compensation, restriction of these activities would affect the livelihood of forest communities and hold back farmers willingness to participate, conditioning the success of forest conservation. These results identify some challenges for international climate change mitigation policies, such as reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). La participación de las comunidades forestales en las actividades de conservación de bosques podría aumentar las posibilidades de alcanzar el objetivo de reducir las emisiones causadas por la degradación forestal y mitigar los efectos del cambio climático. La conservación de bosques requiere un cambio (o renuncia) en algunas actividades económicas que tradicionalmente se practican en las comunidades forestales y que contribuyen a la degradación de los bosques. En este estudio se calculan las compensaciones mínimas asociadas a la renuncia de las principales actividades asociadas a la degradación forestal. Para ello, se utilizan datos provenientes de entrevistas con campesinos en la región occidente de México. Los resultados del modelo logit condicional muestran la importancia relativa que los campesinos entrevistados otorgan al sistema agrícola tradicional, pastoreo de ganado y extracción de productos maderables (leña y postes para construcción). Sin una adecuada compensación, las restricciones de estas actividades afectarían al sustento de las comunidades forestales y frenarían la disposición a participar de los campesinos, condicionando el éxito de la conservación forestal. Estos resultados permiten identificar algunos desafíos para las políticas internacionales de mitigación del cambio climático como el de reducción de emisiones por deforestación y degradación forestal (REDD+).