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Public Policies Shaping Mexican Small Farmer Practices and Environmental Conservation: The Impacts of 28 Years of PROCAMPO (1994–2022) in the Yucatán Peninsula

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  • Lesly-Paola Ramírez

    (Departamento Observación y Estudio de la Tierra, la Atmósfera y el Océano, ECOSUR (El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Mexico), Av. Centenario km 5.5, Chetumal CP 77014, Quintana Roo, Mexico)

  • Birgit Schmook

    (Departamento Observación y Estudio de la Tierra, la Atmósfera y el Océano, ECOSUR (El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Mexico), Av. Centenario km 5.5, Chetumal CP 77014, Quintana Roo, Mexico)

  • Mateo Mier y Terán Giménez Cacho

    (Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencias y Tecnologías (CONAHCYT), Av. Insurgentes Sur 1582, Col. Crédito Constructor, Demarcación Territorial Benito Juárez, Ciudad de México CP 03940, Mexico
    Departamento Agricultura Sociedad y Ambiente, ECOSUR (El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Mexico), Periférico Sur y Carretera Panamericana s/n Barrio María Auxiliadora, San Cristóbal de Las Casas CP 29290, Chiapas, Mexico)

  • Sophie Calmé

    (Departamento Observación y Estudio de la Tierra, la Atmósfera y el Océano, ECOSUR (El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Mexico), Av. Centenario km 5.5, Chetumal CP 77014, Quintana Roo, Mexico
    Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada)

  • Crisol Mendez-Medina

    (Instituto para la Gestión del Conocimiento y el Aprendizaje en Ambientes Virtuales, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av. La Paz No. 2453, Guadalajara CP 44130, Jalisco, Mexico)

Abstract

Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs, generally viewed as policies to modernize and increase agricultural production and commercialization, also have social and environmental impacts. Among the first Mexican CCT programs, PROCAMPO is directed toward traditional agriculture and pays farmers for permanent cultivation, ignoring traditional fallow systems. It was implemented nationally in 1994 to counteract the effects of trade liberalization. Its objectives encompassed modernizing and improving agricultural competitiveness and environmental conservation. Here, we analyze PROCAMPO from the perspective of environmental conservation to understand its effects on agricultural practices and forest cover, specifically in the Yucatán Peninsula, where agriculture sustainability was previously achieved via an alternating cycle of multi-crop system ( milpa ) and forest. We performed an in-depth program analysis, reviewing 51 documents, including scientific literature, technical evaluations, and official records. Research consistently showed direct effects of PROCAMPO on agricultural practices resulting in extensive land use change, including a reduction in crop diversity and the elimination of traditional milpas and fallow. PROCAMPO has impacted conservation by causing high rates of deforestation. Our findings show the need to reorient the design and implementation of agricultural policy to increase agroecosystem resilience and ecological service provision to face climate change.

Suggested Citation

  • Lesly-Paola Ramírez & Birgit Schmook & Mateo Mier y Terán Giménez Cacho & Sophie Calmé & Crisol Mendez-Medina, 2023. "Public Policies Shaping Mexican Small Farmer Practices and Environmental Conservation: The Impacts of 28 Years of PROCAMPO (1994–2022) in the Yucatán Peninsula," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-25, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:12:p:2124-:d:1291900
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peter Klepeis & Colin Vance, 2003. "Neoliberal Policy and Deforestation in Southeastern Mexico: An Assessment of the PROCAMPO Program," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 79(3), pages 221-240, July.
    2. Cecchini, Simone & Atuesta, Bernardo, 2017. "Programas de transferencias condicionadas en América Latina y el Caribe: tendencias de cobertura e inversión," Políticas Sociales 41811, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
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