Change and Adaptation of Family Dairy Farming in the Context of Global Capitalism

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

It is worth highlighting that the article has scientific merit. But there is a need to perform exploratory factor analysis (EFA) again, and better explain the factors (latent variables)  to adapt the inferences in relation to the conclusions of the work carried out by the authors. 

The statistical analysis is incorrectly. The authors likely used the multivariate exploratory factor analysis technique, extracting factors through principal components (PCA). 

Factor analysis is clearly designed with the objective of identifying certain unobservable factors (latent) from the observed variables, whereas PCA does not directly address this objective; at best, PCA provides an approximation to the required factors. From the point of view of exploratory analysis, the eigenvalues of PCA are inflated component loadings, i.e., contaminated with error variance

Another important point is that only 33% of the variance is a small value for making inferences about complex results.

The variables should be better described as categorical (qualitative) or numeric (quantitative). Categorical variables are either nominal (no natural order) or ordinal (ordered categories). Numeric variables are either discrete (countable) or continuous (measurable on a scale).

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Please explain more the impact of the transition from the 1980 till present.  Does the authors perceived that it had negative consequences or not? Please have an evidence based approach.

clarify more the core tension L63 - 79. 

L 80 - 106 - please explain the transition from global to local. why this small community matters?

please define terms such as peasantry, bourgeoisification

Are there any new models of analysis of the peasantry L134 - L 137 than the one indicated? Given their years they may to anchored in the Cold War perspective of ideological divergences.

The methodology is all right, Yet the two studies mention are quite old. Are there any new data? If so please use them or mention the fact that there are not any new data.

the conclusions should be more detailed.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Please revise it more carefully.

The title has a typo error. 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript titled "Change an Adaptation of Family Dairy Farming in the Context of Global Capitalism" presents a compelling analysis of the evolution of family-based dairy production in Santa Elena, Mexico, against the backdrop of neoliberal policies and global agri-food systems. The study employs a robust methodological approach, using principal component analysis (PCA) to examine changes over a 16-year period, and it effectively situates the findings within theoretical frameworks of peasant economies. The topic is timely and relevant, contributing to the literature on agrarian change and resilience. However, the manuscript requires careful revision to address several issues related to language, consistency, and clarity.

To begin with, the title contains a noticeable error: "Change an Adaptation" should be corrected to "Change and Adaptation" for grammatical accuracy. Throughout the text, there are instances of awkward phrasing and minor grammatical errors that detract from the readability. For example, on page 2, the phrase "the state became a subsidiary to corporations" might be better expressed as "the state became subservient to corporations" or "the state acted as a subsidiary of corporations" to enhance clarity. Additionally, on page 5, the term "Communities" appears in the context of PCA requirements but should be replaced with "Communalities," which is the correct statistical term referring to the proportion of variance explained by the factors. Another typo occurs on page 6, where "Demorbing" is used instead of "Deworming," and on page 8, "Mineral salts supple-mentation" suffers from improper hyphenation. These errors, while minor, should be corrected to maintain professionalism.

The manuscript also exhibits inconsistencies in terminology. For instance, the units of analysis are referred to as "household production units (HPUs)" in the abstract and early sections but later switch to "small production units (SPUs)" in the discussion and conclusions. This inconsistency can confuse readers; it is essential to use "HPUs" uniformly throughout the text to align with the initial definition. Similarly, proper nouns like "Michoacán" and "Maravatío" occasionally lack accent marks or are spelled inconsistently. While English publications often omit diacritics, consistency should be maintained—either include them consistently or remove them altogether according to journal style.

The tables, though informative, suffer from formatting issues in the text version provided. For example, Table 1 and Table 3 lack clear alignment, making it difficult to interpret the variance explanations. In Table 4, variables are truncated (e.g., "Work in the produc-tion unit"), which disrupts flow. I recommend ensuring that tables are neatly formatted, with full variable names and consistent decimal alignment, to improve readability. Additionally, the rotated component matrices (Tables 2 and 4) would benefit from brief explanations of variable abbreviations in a footnote or legend, as terms like "Males" or "Females < 2 years" may not be immediately clear to all readers.

In terms of phrasing, some sentences are overly complex or passive, which could be revised for better engagement. For example, on page 9, the sentence "These elements help explain how small production units (SPUs) continue to maintain livelihoods oriented toward agriculture and livestock..." could be simplified to "These elements illustrate how HPUs sustain agricultural and livestock-based livelihoods..." Similarly, the conclusion section contains long, convoluted sentences that would benefit from breaking into shorter, more direct statements. I also noticed a few missing articles (e.g., "the herd economy" vs. "herd economy") and occasional subject-verb agreement issues, such as "the number of production units increased, suggesting that the activity have not been abandoned" where "have" should be "has."

Despite these issues, the manuscript's strengths lie in its empirical depth and theoretical engagement. The discussion effectively links findings to peasant theory, and the conclusions are well-supported. I recommend a thorough proofread to address the linguistic errors, ensure terminological consistency, and refine table presentations. With these revisions, the manuscript will be a valuable contribution to the field.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The English could be improved to more clearly express the research.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This article focuses on the adaptation and transformation of smallholder dairy farming in Santa Elena, Mexico, within the context of global capitalism, demonstrating strong practical relevance and academic value. However, the article exhibits certain shortcomings in data presentation, theoretical coherence, and research depth:

First, the tables lack complete information. Key tables (e.g., Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, Table 4) present only partial data or variables, missing comprehensive variable explanations, units of measurement, and sample size details.

Second, the data analysis lacks depth. The results of the principal component analysis remain at the level of "identifying principal components," without further exploration of the interactions between them. For instance, the relationship between the newly added "Family Labor" component in 2018 and existing components such as "Herb Economy" and "Technology" is not analyzed, making it difficult to clearly explain the specific pathways of reinforced peasant characteristics. Additionally, no quantitative validation is provided for the changes in principal components between 2002 and 2018. For example, the correlation between the increased importance of the "Herd Economy" and factors such as growth in milk powder imports or local market demand is not confirmed through methods like regression analysis.

Third, the definition of core concepts is vague. "Peasant characteristics" is a central concept throughout the article, yet it is only described phenomenologically through aspects such as "family labor, diversified operations, and reliance on local markets," without a clear theoretical definition or measurable dimensions. For example, the distinction between "peasant characteristics" and "characteristics of small-scale farming" is not clarified, nor is it explained why "reduced health inspections" and "traditional breeding methods" signify a reinforcement of peasant characteristics. This conceptual ambiguity undermines the rigor of the research conclusions.

Fourth, the case study lacks representativeness. The research focuses solely on the Santa Elena community without comparing it to smallholder dairy farming in other regions of Mexico (e.g., Jalisco or the Lagunera region, as mentioned in the article). This limits the ability to determine whether the Santa Elena case is unique or generalizable. Furthermore, the influence of geographical, cultural, or policy contexts (e.g., local government agricultural subsidies) on farming practices is not addressed, reducing the external validity of the findings.

Fifth, the discussion section lacks critical reflection. The analysis revolves solely around the "reinforcement of peasant characteristics" without evaluating the sustainability risks of this model.

Minor revisions are recommended for this article.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf