This research evaluated trajectories of agrarian change following liberalization and deregulation of the coffee commodity chain, assessing the transformation of agrarian class structures and livelihoods between 2000 and 2009 among landed coffee farmers from Agua Buena, Costa Rica. Simultaneous processes of differentiation, deagrarianization, and repeasantization are documented. Deagrarianization is identified as the result of either adaptive or maladaptive processes of livelihood diversification out of agriculture. Repeasantization is characterized by the widespread adoption of low external‐input agriculture driven by cultural norms of self‐sufficiency and labour flexibility within farm households. In order to ensure equitability and the continued viability of rural households in communities ravaged by commodity deregulation, aid and training need to be targeted towards resource‐poor households in two principal areas: first, to transition off‐farm livelihoods into stable and high return activities and, second, to provide the agroecological knowledge and resources for farming households to self‐provision and distantiate themselves from the market.

In order to determine if artificially collected water fog in the mountainous located in central the region of Veracruz state is suitable for human consumption; a preliminary sampling was made, from January to March (2010), the period with more fog frequency. The objective was to analyze the physical, chemical and biological aspects concerning water quality. It was found that this water is not suitable for direct human consumption, since it contains heavy metals such as mercury, coliform organisms and high amounts of ammonia nitrogen, though it is suitable for direct use in agriculture. However, it is possible to apply a sanitation treatment for human use at a cost of 0.00341 USD L-1 not including the labor cost neither the necessary infrastructure. Various causes can lead to this water pollution are discussed and it is concluded that collected fog water is not suitable for human consumption, but it might be used for agriculture.

Domestic supply wells meet much of the world’s potable water demand. These wells tend to fail as regional groundwater levels decline from intensive agricultural groundwater use, especially during drought when additional pumping occurs. This work examines approaches for addressing impacts on domestic wells in much of the San Joaquin Valley in California, USA, where groundwater management is now required. Mitigation actions and their costs are considered to allow continued well operations as groundwater levels decline to target levels specified in groundwater management plans. The estimated total mitigation cost for groundwater-level declines to the planned management targets ranges from $42 to $96 million depending upon well retirement age. If groundwater levels decline further to defined limits below the management targets allowed during drought, costs increase by $78 to $153 million. There will likely be competition for specialized labor to implement the mitigation actions since agricultural wells will also be affected. Unless current groundwater management plans become more stringent and specify shallower groundwater depth targets, proactive mitigation should be considered for the most vulnerable areas to prevent impacts from growing beyond the capacity for timely mitigation and to avoid widespread failure of rural domestic water supplies. The cost of mitigation for impacted wells is estimated to be less than 2% of the benefit to agriculture from being allowed to pump groundwater in excess of management targets during a multiyear drought.