Resilient productions for the permanence and transformation of small-scale agricultural producers in Ixtlahuaca, Mexico

Climate change continuously affects the agricultural system, primarily impacting small-scale productions (SSPs), as they depend mainly on natural resources for production. They constantly experience environmental, social, and economic disturbances. Therefore, it is essential to understand the response of small-scale producers to these disturbances. This work aims to determine the resilience capacity of SSPs in Ixtlahuaca, State of Mexico, by analyzing 70 SSPs in constant exposure using a composite resilience indicator. The disturbances that have the most significant impact are unemployment and drought. As a result, four resilience levels were identified based on the employed strategies. The majority of productions belong to those with the capacity for persistence (41, 59 %), followed by those in the process of adaptation (18, 26 %), transformation occurring to a lesser degree (8, 11 %), and those without resilience (3, 4 %). In conclusion, resilience provides a variety of strategies to deal with uncertainty through decision-making, the presence of which is essential.