Agros Blog

On my trip to Chiapas, Mexico in late September, I visited the community of Nuevo San Miguel Mitontic.  Agros has been working in this community since early 2005, and will be finalizing our work there in June of 2010.  The first community Agros chose to work with in Mexico, San Miguel is one of the few communities we work with who already had their own land.  They received their land in 1994 from the Mexican government and became an ejido, which is a community of indigenous people in Mexico who have received land from the government, which is then communally owned.

While this community did not have a land loan from Agros, part of the work we have done with them is to improve the use of their land and their stewardship of the land.  As in many rural communities, the families of San Miguel were practicing a technique called “slash and burn” where they burned their corn crops after harvest as a form to remove the dead stalks.  While this is an easier method to remove dead corn stalks, it is damaging to the soil and increases erosion.  Agros staff began working with the families to change this practice through a new project—the planting of fruit trees.  In 2006, three families accepted this challenge, did not burn (but instead mulched the dead plant material on their land) and planted their fruit trees. Jonas’ family was one of them, one of the key leaders of San Miguel. Soon after, Jonas got some additional fruit trees from the local government, and started a small fruit tree plantation on his land.

Over the past couple of years, each time I visit San Miguel, Jonas proudly shows us his fruit trees.  He began with nearly 80 fruit trees—avocado, citrus, and peach.  From there he became a promoter and participant in the development process, and worked to encourage other families to not burn their land and to plant fruit trees.  Today there are 58 families who have planted fruit trees on their land, for a total of over 26 acres of trees planted! There are avocado, lemon, orange and peach trees.  Not only has this radically reduced the practice of slash and burn and is improving the environment in San Miguel, but it is also a source of income for the families.  This year their trees are beginning to produce fruit and the families are coordinating to take their produce to the neighboring cities of Ixtapa and Tuxtla to sell.  This will continue to grow into a strong source of income for these families over time.

The week before my visit in September, the Journey With a Village partner (Sammamish Presbyterian Church) visited to have a final celebration with them.  They visited all of the projects the families have been working on, like the fruit trees, as well as rabbits, cattle, and the women’s embroidery and sewing projects.  They shared a special meal together and had a time of thanksgiving together, with families from both San Miguel and Sammamish sharing about how special the time they’ve spent together has been.  It was a celebration of the community’s successes and their ability now to carry these projects forward on their own.  When I arrived at the community the week after, the families shared with smiles on their faces of their time with Agros and Sammamish Presbyterian, and their pride in their projects and their work.  It was affirming to me that as we transition out of San Miguel, these families are ready to journey on their own.

Change takes time, but once it takes root, amazing things can happen.