Restoring the Food Systems Resilience Through the Dialogue of Knowledge: A Case Study from Mexico

Abstract

Global economic dynamics have marginalized many territories, and these have attributes that can generate development possibilities in the context of their territorial capacities. Asymmetries within and outside the territories can be overcome if there is an exchange of ideas between social actors, i.e. a dialogue of knowledge. Based on this logic, this study aims to value the dialogue of knowledge as a dynamic tool of institutional resilience to promote development in its different expressions. Institutional resilience can be understood as the adaptive capacity of a system of beliefs, values and traditions in a specific territory to generate changes driven by historically inherited cultural expressions, which in most cases creates environments that produce individual and collective well-being. It is concluded that the dialogue of knowledge is a tool capable of promoting new knowledge among its participants and promoting development in the territories, allowing for a recovery of resilient food systems.

Keywords:

• dialogue
• resilience
• institutions
• indigenous
• cultural territories

Acknowledgements

The author would especially like to thank the students of the Sustainable Development Education Programme, taught at the Intercultural University of Puebla State, who participated in the dialogue of knowledge together with wise men and women from the communities of Pahuatlan and the anonymous reviewers for their generous comments and advice.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study is derived from the institutional project ‘Vinculación Comunitaria’ which is executed twice a year by the Intercultural University of Puebla State and the municipalities of the region with which the university has established collaboration agreements. The financial support was provided by the municipality of Pahuatlan and the Intercultural University of Puebla State.

Notes on contributors

Diosey Ramon Lugo-Morin

Diosey Ramon Lugo-Morin his emphasis has been on rural and sustainable development, food systems, ethnocompetitiveness and institutional resilience. The focus has been on Mexico, Ecuador and Venezuela, but as well on Spain and Portugal. He has worked in research institutes and universities in Ecuador, Peru and Spain. Currently, working in Mexico as professor of the Postgraduate Program in Sustainable Management of Natural Resources at the Intercultural University of Puebla State. His research focuses on the potential of indigenous peoples’ food systems and their territories in Mexico from an institutional resilience perspective. He holds a PhD in strategies for regional agricultural development at Postgraduate College (Mexico).