ABSTRACT In this paper I argue that the cultural meaning of subsistence farming is at least equally important as its function as a livelihood strategy in rural Mexico for at least two reasons. First, subsistence farming is more or less important during different stages of people’s lives. Many young people, particularly men, intend to migrate to the USA for work and have little interest in farming, while older people keep up the tradition of farming the land they inherited from their ancestors. Second, in most cases only households who rely on external sources of income for their basic needs – including remittances – can afford keeping the tradition of subsistence farming and take the risk of crop failures. Poorer households, in contrast, tend to stop farming when revenues cannot be guaranteed, and they might also be unable to afford international migration. Drawing on qualitative empirical data collected in two rural communities in the Mexican state Zacatecas in 2008 and in 2018 these findings contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between more frequent and more severe droughts, related changes to the yield output of subsistence farming for rural dwellers, and outmigration to the USA in times of climate change.

中文翻译：

---

农业超越生计战略的意义：墨西哥萨卡特卡斯州气候变化、农业和国际移民之间的复杂联系

摘要 在本文中，我认为自给农业的文化意义至少与其作为墨西哥农村生计战略的功能同等重要，原因至少有两个。首先，自给农业在人们生活的不同阶段或多或少很重要。许多年轻人，尤其是男性，打算移民到美国工作，对农业兴趣不大，而老年人则保持着耕种他们从祖先那里继承的土地的传统。其次，在大多数情况下，只有依靠外部收入来源满足基本需求（包括汇款）的家庭才能负担得起保持自给农业的传统并承担农作物歉收的风险。相比之下，当收入无法保证时，贫困家庭往往会停止耕作，他们也可能负担不起国际移民。利用 2008 年和 2018 年在墨西哥萨卡特卡斯州的两个农村社区收集的定性经验数据，这些发现有助于更好地了解更频繁和更严重的干旱之间的关系，以及农村居民自给农业产量的相关变化，以及在气候变化时期移民到美国。