Abstract

AGUILAR ROMAN, Janeth; GALMICHE TEJEDA, Ángel  and  DOMINGUEZ DOMINGUEZ, Marivel. The vulnerability context of rubber producer families: Case studies in the municipality of Huimanguillo, Tabasco, Mexico. Estud. soc [online]. 2012, vol.20, n.39, pp.207-234. ISSN 0188-4557.

The approach of sustainable livelihoods permits the understanding of the context of vulnerability; livelihood, strategies implemented and provide a framework for understanding the causes and dimensions of poverty without focusing only on a few factors. Three case studies, analysing the vulnerability context, the livelihoods and the strategies implemented of families dedicated to rubber farming in three different stages of cultivation (planting adult, youth and development path.) from the towns of Francisco Martinez Gaytán, Laguna del Rosario and Ejido El Guanal, municipality of Huimanguillo, Tabasco are presented. Data were collected through participatory workshops, participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Results indicate that the degree of vulnerability depends on the interaction and recurrence of different factors, such as lower financial resources, poor management of rubber plantations, poor workforce due to illness or death, production cycles characterized by the presence of longer dry seasons and abundant rainfall that increase the risk of diseases in crops and livestock. All these factors affect negatively the natural, physical and financial capital, available for the families.

Keywords : assets; strategies; poverty and vulnerability.

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