The relationship between poverty and the agricultural sector in Mexico

Resumen

Objective: To determine how the planted area, the harvested area, and the value of agricultural production affect poverty, moderate poverty, extreme poverty, and the lack of access to nutritious and quality food in Mexico.

Hypothesis: The planted area, the harvested area, and the value of agricultural production affect poverty, moderate poverty, extreme poverty, and the lack of access to nutritious and quality food in Mexico.

Methodology: Eight data panels were conducted (four with fixed effects and four with variable effects) comparing planted area, harvested area, and the value of agricultural production with poverty, moderate poverty, extreme poverty, and the lack of access to nutritious and quality food in Mexico. Natural logarithms of the variables were used.

Results: In general, the natural logarithms of planted area, the natural logarithms of harvested area, and the natural logarithms of the value of agricultural production had an impact on the natural logarithms of poverty, the natural logarithms of moderate poverty, and the natural logarithms of extreme poverty. The only exception was the natural logarithms of the lack of access to nutritious and quality food.

Limitations on study/implications: The government should work on transmission mechanisms so that the planted area, the harvested area, and the value of agricultural production could help reduce poverty in Mexico. One limitation is that the states were not characterized.

Conclusions: Agricultural production in Mexico (measured through planted area, harvested area, and the value of production) affects the types of poverty in Mexico.