We are in Oaxaca, Mexico on a mission from our
church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA). We are assigned to help with the work of AMEXTRA (Associacion Mexicana para la Transformacion
Rural y Urbana, A.C.). Our first two years here were busy with learning a
bit of Spanish and getting to know the personnel and programs of AMEXTRA.
From the experience of the first two years here, we have made various
suggestions to the management of AMEXTRA with regard to the focus and
planning of their programs, many of which have been accepted, and now we
are embarking on implementing rural development programs with our AMEXTRA
counterparts.Our suggestions revolve around the basics: how to help campesinos provide a secure supply of food for their families. Here that means tortillas made from corn (maize) and beans. There are many disparate efforts to create family farms that look like prosperous, self-sufficient farms of the U.S. a century ago with a few chickens supplying eggs and meat, a cow or goat to supply meat and milk, fruit trees, a family garden, a safe water supply , etc. That is a beautiful, wonderful picture but, in our opinion, it clouds the vision of what CAN and should be done NOW.
The reality of what we see here and now is families trying to subsist on a bit of steeply sloping ground where the rain, when it comes, falls heavily and washes away what little topsoil there is to begin with. There is absolutely no long term security in such an arrangement and, consequently we think, little hope among the poorest of the poor campesinos.
And yet, perhaps strangely, we find basis for optimism. Crop yields are so low that we believe some very simple improvements in their farming techniques could multilply yields by several times. And do it in a sustainable manner that can build long-term security while boosting short term rewards.
The average poor Mexican eats (or would like to eat) some 200 kilograms of corn (maize) per year. For a family of 5, say, that implies a need for some 1,000 kilograms of corn per year. Yet, typical yields are somewhere around 200 kilograms per hectare (that's about 3 bushels per acre). A family of 5 cannot care for 5 hectares (about 12 acres) of ground, hence, they often go hungry or the man of the house has to look for cash-paying work somewhere (often in the U.S. - Oaxaca is a huge supplier of the illegal immigrant traffic to the U.S.).
We believe an improved system of agriculture that builds on traditional methods with only a slight push from the outside stands a reasonable chance to work a transformation in the lives of the poor campesinos of Oaxaca. This system would be based on four points: the conservation of rainfall and soil through use of vegatative barriers planted on contour lines, the improvement of seed stocks through better seed selection practices, the improvement of soil fertility through use of green manure crops, and improved grain storage techniques.
Follow the links above to learn more about our approach and (hopefully) our successes. Feel free to contact either of us at jim@jamesroe.com or yvonne@jamesroe.com.