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Selling Maize in Mexico: The Persistence of Peasant Farming in an Era of Global Markets

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  • Hallie Eakin
  • Hugo Perales
  • Kirsten Appendini
  • Stuart Sweeney

Abstract

type="main"> The last decade of the twentieth century was heralded as the ‘end of agrarian reform’ in Mexico and the initiation of a new era of market-led agricultural policy and practice. The impact of neoliberalism and the North American Free Trade Agreement on smallholder maize production has been widely conceived as negative, associated with ecological degradation, rural emigration and cultural erosion. Yet, some twenty years later, all evidence suggests that smallholder maize production is continuing in Mexico, albeit in evolving structures and forms. This article uses a farm-level survey implemented in three Mexican states to assess the current condition of maize farming in Mexico. The authors revisit past categorizations of Mexican farmers and apply similar approaches to explore what maize-producing households are doing with their maize, and what current patterns of production imply for future Mexican maize policy. They find evidence of greater persistence and adaptability in Mexican maize farming than is often presented. On the basis of their analysis, they advocate for a reconsideration of the underlying assumptions of public policy, highlighting the heterogeneity of the maize landscape and the unrealized and generally unrecognized potential this heterogeneity represents.

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  • Hallie Eakin & Hugo Perales & Kirsten Appendini & Stuart Sweeney, 2014. "Selling Maize in Mexico: The Persistence of Peasant Farming in an Era of Global Markets," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(1), pages 133-155, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:45:y:2014:i:1:p:133-155
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    Cited by:

    1. Freudenreich, Hanna & Musshoff, Oliver, 2022. "Experience of losses and aversion to uncertainty - experimental evidence from farmers in Mexico," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    2. Figueroa, Daniela & Galeana-Pizaña, J. Mauricio & Núñez, Juan Manuel & Anzaldo Gómez, Carlos & Hernández-Castro, J. Roberto & Sánchez-Ramírez, María del Mar & Garduño, Andrea, 2021. "Assessing drivers and deterrents of deforestation in Mexico through a public policy tool. The adequacy of the index of economic pressure for deforestation," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    3. Quetzalcóatl Orozco-Ramírez & Marta Astier, 2017. "Socio-economic and environmental changes related to maize richness in Mexico’s central highlands," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 377-391, June.
    4. Wies, Germán & Navarrete-Segueda, Armando & Ceccon, Eliane & Larsen, John & Martinez-Ramos, Miguel, 2022. "What drives management decisions and grain yield variability in Mesoamerican maize cropping systems? Evidence from small-scale farmers in southern Mexico," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    5. Sofia Mardero & Birgit Schmook & Jorge Omar López-Martínez & Lizette Cicero & Claudia Radel & Zachary Christman, 2018. "The Uneven Influence of Climate Trends and Agricultural Policies on Maize Production in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Mauricio R. Bellon & Alicia Mastretta-Yanes & Alejandro Ponce-Mendoza & Daniel Ortiz-Santa María & Oswaldo Oliveros-Galindo & Hugo Perales & Francisca Acevedo & José Sarukhán, 2021. "Beyond subsistence: the aggregate contribution of campesinos to the supply and conservation of native maize across Mexico," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(1), pages 39-53, February.
    7. Wolke Tobón-Niedfeldt & Alicia Mastretta-Yanes & Tania Urquiza-Haas & Bárbara Goettsch & Angela P. Cuervo-Robayo & Esmeralda Urquiza-Haas & M. Andrea Orjuela-R & Francisca Acevedo Gasman & Oswaldo Oli, 2022. "Incorporating evolutionary and threat processes into crop wild relatives conservation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-18, December.
    8. Galeana-Pizaña, J. Mauricio & Couturier, Stéphane & Figueroa, Daniela & Jiménez, Aldo Daniel, 2021. "Is rural food security primarily associated with smallholder agriculture or with commercial agriculture?: An approach to the case of Mexico using structural equation modeling," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    9. Freudenreich, Hanna & Musshoff, Oliver & Wiercinski, Ben, 2017. "The Relationship between Farmers' Shock Experiences and their Uncertainty Preferences - Experimental Evidence from Mexico," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 256212, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    10. Eakin, Hallie & Appendini, Kirsten & Sweeney, Stuart & Perales, Hugo, 2015. "Correlates of Maize Land and Livelihood Change Among Maize Farming Households in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 78-91.
    11. Lucía Pérez-Volkow & Stewart A.W. Diemont & Theresa Selfa & Helda Morales & Alejandro Casas, 2023. "From rainforest to table: Lacandon Maya women are critical to diversify landscapes and diets in Lacanjá Chansayab, Mexico," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 259-275, March.
    12. Camacho-Villa, Tania Carolina & Zepeda-Villarreal, Ernesto Adair & Díaz-José, Julio & Rendon-Medel, Roberto & Govaerts, Bram, 2023. "The contribution of strong and weak ties to resilience: The case of small-scale maize farming systems in Mexico," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    13. Benjamin P. Warner, 2016. "Understanding actor-centered adaptation limits in smallholder agriculture in the Central American dry tropics," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(4), pages 785-797, December.
    14. Renaud Metereau, 2015. "Get inspired by the global South : peasant-led ecodevelopment strategies in Nicaragua," Post-Print halshs-01162826, HAL.
    15. Dobler-Morales, Carlos & Lorenzen, Matthew & Orozco-Ramírez, Quetzalcóatl & Bocco, Gerardo, 2022. "Beyond a generalized deagrarianization: Livelihood heterogeneity and its determinants in the Mixteca Alta, Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    16. Marianna Fenzi & Paul Rogé & Angel Cruz-Estrada & John Tuxill & Devra Jarvis, 2022. "Community seed network in an era of climate change: dynamics of maize diversity in Yucatán, Mexico," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(1), pages 339-356, March.
    17. Freudenreich, H., 2018. "Explaining Mexican Farmers Adoption of Hybrid Maize Seed - The Role of Social Psychology, Risk and Ambiguity Aversion," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277410, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

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