Unravelling the Paradoxical Seasonal Food Scarcity in a Peasant Microregion of Mexico

Seasonal food scarcity during pre-harvest months is, widely, considered to be the principal manifestation of insecurity, for some 600 million members smallholder families, who rely on a variety coping strategies. This paper analyses both peasant-economy variables that explain presence and intensity seasonal scarcity, strategies 120 rural households in microregion southern Mexico. We, also, examine how supply networks six archetypical foods peasant diet express robustness or vulnerability seasons abundance scarcity. The method combines surveys, ethnographic fieldwork, statistical models social network analyses. Results show 74% experience at least one month annually, 34% shortages last more than months. In total, 29% affected gather wild foods, 14% use intense strategies, such as international migration, taking out loans, parental buffering. During scarce seasons, self-sufficiency maize beans contract, but still maintain households, while cash-consumption those beef become accessible only small sector economically differentiated households. contrast vast majority research, which simply reports describes this provides an in-depth analysis—based upon novel methodological integration—of socioeconomic, agrifood, land tenure conditions may determine why many territories Global South face “farmer–food-scarcity paradox”.