Codifying Marginality: The Evolution of Mexican Agricultural Policy and its Impact on the Peasantry

Abstract

Mexican agrarian philosophy has been characterised by remarkable consistency over the 70 years since the Revolution despite drastic changes in the overall economic context. The symbols of Revolutionary reform persist untarnished -' land and liberty', Zapata and the ejido, an unique form of peasant land tenure. ' El agro' and agrarian policy remain a highly sensitive area shrouded in the mystique of past social struggles, so that the legacy of previous development decisions tightly constrains present-day options.The 1917 Constitution established that all lands and waters are part of the national patrimony subject to control by the state for the public good. Subsequent reform legislation reflects ever-increasing state intervention in an attempt to accommodate the agrarian populist concerns about social justice in the countryside on which the legitimacy of the Partido Kevolucionario Institutional (PRI, Revolutionary Institutional Party) is based, as well as to spur productivity increases. Unfortunately, this reform process has created a cumbersome institutional structure which seems to be unable to cope effectively with contemporary harsh economic realities. ' Petrolisation' of the Mexican economy and the ensuing revelation of the full extent of the debt crisis have compounded the ongoing agricultural crisis, associated with demographic pressures, chronic rural poverty, sluggish growth in many crop complexes, increasing reliance on export crops and correlative loss of self-sufficiency in basic foods. Effective programs for stimulating domestic food output are urgently needed. However, the Mexican government has been unable to combine effectively the imperative of spurring agricultural production with its constitutional commitment to improving the peasant condition. Agricultural needs and agrarian institutions seem to be at cross purposes. 1 1 P. Lamartine Yates, Mexico's Agricultural Dilemma (Tucson, 1981).

The success of a policy model: Irrigation management transfer in Mexico

“…This revolved around the long-standing tension between policies targeting private capital as a means of increasing agricultural production and those directed at peasants to retain political support in rural areas (Fox, 1992;Gates, 1988;Stanford, 1993). Under President Calles in the 1920s, the construction of irrigation districts served to replace large landholdings (latifundia) with medium-sized family farms.…”

Cultural Wars and New Technologies: The Discourse of Plant Breeding and the Professionalisation of Mexican Agronomy, 1880-1994

“…Unfortunately for the campesinos, the process the agrónomos used to establish their credibility as scientific professionals also exacerbated their differences with Mexico's peasants and erected a wall between them (Gates 1988: 303-04; Riding 1984: 275-76). The gap between the urban middle class and poor rural Mexicans was (and continues to be) very wide.…”

Agrarian Winners of Neoliberal Reform: The ‘Maize Boom’ of Sinaloa, Mexico

“…First, we briefly review the national policy reforms that preceded Sinaloa's entry into maize, noting that other scholars have covered this ground extensively in this and other media (e.g. Barkin ; Gates ; de Janvry et al. ; Appendini ; Yuñez‐Naude ).…”

“…Mexico's agriculture sector is essentially bimodal: commercial farms and semi‐subsistence smallholders exist together. Historically, these sectors have been subject to distinct policy goals and programmes (Gates ; de Ita Rubio ). Over the course of the twentieth century, this duality both generated and reinforced tensions in policy circles between the recognition of maize as a cornerstone in rural livelihoods and food security, and the belief that maize farming – inextricably linked to impoverished rural households – was an impediment to improved agricultural‐sector efficiency and productivity in Mexico.…”

“…In 1986, Mexico became a full member of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), as a precursor to signing NAFTA. This move was intended to enhance access to international markets for Mexican exports and reversed previous decades of ‘traditionally protectionist trade policies’ (Gates , 298; see also Aguilar Soto ). In 1990, the Salinas de Gotari administration (1988–94) started the Agricultural Modernization Program, which singled out the most competitive farmers for support, and promoted the crops for which Mexico was thought to have a comparative advantage in international markets (Eakin ).…”