Agricultural resilience in small agave producers in Oaxaca

Abstract

The adaptive capacity of small rural producers from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico in the face of the growing demand for agave-mezcal was analyzed. These producers have historically been characterized by using traditional techniques associated with subsistence or small-scale agriculture, so recently they raise doubts about their possibility of articulation with the change in the demand for agave for mezcal distillation. The research adopted a qualitative design with the use of participant observation and semi-structured interviews conducted in five regions of Oaxaca during 2019. The effects of changes in the market and the strategies that small producers are implementing in the face of these were explored and analyzed. The analytical approach was based on the factors of socioecological resilience, namely buffering, self-organization, learning and adaptation. The results show that, contrary to expectations, agave producers are registering changes articulated with the increase in demand through the combination of traditional knowledge and practices with innovative adaptations; for example, the reactivation of planting areas, the incursion into new links of the agave-mezcal value chain; new forms of microregional organization and communication, or leases under the communal land ownership regime. The findings indicate the presence of resilient capacities in agave production that could favor the transition from the profile of subsistence producers to a market-oriented profile.