Agriculture and the Environment

Pre-Columbian Mexico was dominated by a wide variety of indigenous cultures. These groups were not only impacted by the environment, but also impacted the environment themselves through their various methods of agriculture. Due to this fact of life the indigenous groups often had to adapt to their environment in various ways. While agriculture exploded in pre-columbian Mexico, pastoralism and livestock raising and grazing did not, perhaps because of the lack of natural herd livestock animals in the regions of the country. Many differing foods were domesticated and cultivated in the region including corn, beans, squash, chili peppers, and tomatoes. If meat was on the menu in ancient Mexico is was obtained on the hunt. Proteins for indigenous Mexicans typically included varying fish and small game differing based on the area.

The Chinampa is an agricultural technique used by Aztec societies in the Valley of Mexico. Chinampas were constructed by consolidating mud into large rectangular beds protected by wooden stakes. The beds were built over shallow lakes and wetland areas, allowing for subsurface irrigation. The plots were often constructed near each other and were separated by canals allowing canoes to navigate. Chinampas were very productive, with high yields and up to seven harvests a year. Crops grown by this method included maize, squash, beans, chili peppers, amaranth, tomatoes, limes, onions, and sweet potatoes. Chinampas surrounded Tenochlitán and other Mexican cities, sustaining large populations and complex societies. After Spanish conquest and colonization, many of the lakes previously sustaining Chinampas were drained, reducing the prevalence of the technique. However, some Chinampas survived and remain today. 

Similarly to other areas of the world, such as North America in the Modern United States, or in Certain parts of Africa or India, it can be seen in Mexico that colonialism isn't a very beneficial system for the native population or the environment that they live in. Native populations, such as the Aztecs discussed earlier, who lived in a sustainable manner, were forced into a different way of life by the Spanish system of colonialism. The sustainable Chinampas the Aztecs employed were abandoned for destructive practices such as slash and burn land clearing for traditional high yield agriculture or for livestock. Furthermore, the arrival of the Spanish in Mexico introduced foreign species such as the livestock the colonists brought along that were very harmful to the various Mexican environments.

A particular environmental impact from the rise of agriculture during the colonial era in Mexico is the mass killings of jaguars across Mexico. These large predators are important in the terrestrial ecosystems of South and Central America, in addition to those of Mexico. As apex predators jaguars are central to applying population control to all of their prey species, thus keeping the populations of the entire ecosystem in check. This became a problem however, when colonists introduced large animals such as cows to Mexico. As jaguars began to occasionally hunt and kill cows, ranchers and farmers retaliated by killing jaguars in massive quantities. This destabilized ecosystems across Mexico and caused irreparable damage to the jaguar population in the country.

After the Mexican War for Independence, agriculture continued following largely the same pattern as it had under colonial rule, wherein large landowners controlled large estates that were farmed by lower-class workers who were usually indigenous. The Catholic Church also owned huge swaths of land. However, at this time, there were still many indigenous communities that were centered around subsistence farming, but when Porfirio Díaz took power in 1877, he moved to “modernize” Mexico commercially, which meant breaking up these indigenous communities that were seen as unprofitable. Instead, Díaz promoted commercial agriculture for export with large landowners owning huge estates. This was similar to the hacienda system that had existed before except now the focus was production for foreign export. Also, indigenous peoples were now often compelled to work the land that they used to inhabit freely as laborers for the wealthy elite who had now consolidated it. Mexico became a major exporter of lumber, tobacco, henequen, and tobacco. Working conditions for indigenous workers on these haciendas worsened, especially in areas like Yucatán, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. Though written with a western, Anglo-Saxon bias, travel writers Channing Arnold and Frederick J. Tabor Frost wrote of the horrors taking place in Yucatán on the haciendas and of Díaz’s denial and lack of action. This idea of prioritizing commerce and foreign investment over the lives of human beings went on to characterize Díaz’s thirty-year presidency, known as the Porfiriato. 

Railroad expansion is certainly an important hallmark of Porfirian development due to its' long-term impacts on the economy and environment of Mexico. Between 1875 and 1910 the nation built over 24,000 kilometers of railroad tracks, whereas they only had 650 before. While the construction of these railroads did benefit Mexican industry, Mexicans did not get to reap the full reward. Roughly 80% of investments in Mexican railroads came from U.S. stockholders, and about half of the railroads were owned by American companies. This development caused a surge in commercialized agriculture, in addition to surges in the mining and logging industries. This expansion was often harmful for the environment as land speculators bought land inhabited by natives who lived sustainably, in an effort to make money off of this rapid development. Where the land was once inhabited by only natives who lived a sustainable and balanced lifestyle, it could now be accessed by the wider world and it's growing industries. The environment was also threatened when, due to the increase in infrastructure, the population in the previously uninhabited north of Mexico drastically increased due to this improved and more expansive railroad system. New settlements sprouted up throughout the borderland where there are many copper deposits. As these developments grew so did their demands for resources. Commercialized agriculture also expanded vastly during the Porfiriato

The structure of Mexican agriculture finally began to see some reforms following the Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1920. As a result of the years of subjugation of workers under the Porfiriato, tensions ran high, and this issue became one of the main factors motivating the Revolution and was backed by regions all across Mexico. This led to the introduction of the ejido system. Ejidos were government-regulated lands of common tenancy that had been redistributed from corrupt landowners. The land was divided up into parcels that were farmed individually by the person they were granted to, but the whole system operated collectively. This system was inspired by the pre-colonial agricultural practices of indigenous peoples, except the ejidos were regulated by the government. Most parcels were 10-20 acres, which is significantly smaller than a hacienda. By the 1930s, haciendas had almost entirely disappeared from central and southern Mexico as a result of the ejidos.  

Mexican intellectuals noticed the trends of environmental degradation beginning to occur. These scientists formed societies to discuss these ecological factors. This led to the establishment of the first national forest service. Later, during the Cardenas presidency many national parks were established under the Comision Nacional De Areas Naturales Protegidas. The establishment of these parks were part of a larger suite of land reforms instituted by the Cardenas administration that were highly controversial. These reforms took land that had been used for various reasons including commercialized agriculture in the past and redistributed that land amongst a number of groups, including indigenous peoples who continued to live a sustainable lifestyle. This sweeping set of policies serve as a very early sign of true codified environmentally conservative policy.

Corn and Economic Liberalization 

The debt crisis of 1982 signaled a dramatic change in the development strategies utilized by the Mexican government. Structural adjustment policies replaced the import substitution model, which centered on restricting imports of manufactured goods to boost local industry. The new approach prioritized economic liberalization and the “free market.” Policymakers began the dismantling of price controls and subsidies and undertook the reduction of barriers to foreign trade. The expansion of international commerce formally started when Mexico joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1986), which was later broadened with the North American Free Trade Agreement (1994). These agreements aimed to reduce inefficiency in agricultural practices and lower prices. Prior to these agreements, Mexico enforced a variety of protectionist measures to keep the price of corn above the world price. The expectation of liberalization was that the dismantling of tariffs and subsidies would drive growth and make Mexico’s economy more efficient. 

With regards to corn, the expectation of the agreements was that the reduction in domestic price would decrease production, freeing resources for economic development in other sectors. As expected, the price of domestic corn compared to the price of international corn declined, intensifying after the 1994 passage of NAFTA. Corn imports increased exponentially, especially from the United States. In 1980 Mexican imported .5 million metric tons of corn from the United States. By 2009, that figure rose to 8 million metric tons. Most imported corn consists of yellow corn used for animal feed, while white corn composes a smaller fraction. Despite the price of corn dropping and imports increasing as expected, corn remains the largest Mexican agricultural product in terms of utilized land and total output. Corn is harvested in over a third of all harvested land. Nearly 1 million more hectares were used for corn production in 2009 than in 1980. Resources generally have not been allocated for the production of new alternative products. 

The effects of the liberalization of trade on corn production have impacted Mexico in numerous ways. The structure of aid U.S. farmers receive from their government puts  Mexican farmers in a disadvantageous trading position. Mexican farmers are subject to international price volatility. The income of corn farmers has decreased, driven by lower prices and corn imports. The average income of rural families has dropped with the drop in the price of corn, and the potential fluctuation in price puts Mexican food security at risk. Due to the decline in income for farmers, some have migrated to urban areas or the United States for income.  These changes have led to increases in urban unemployment and an increasing gender imbalance in the countryside, with more women becoming economically active as men have left.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Environmental Policies

When President López Obrador first took office, he promised that environmental protection would be “a pillar” of his policy as president. During his campaign, he released a statement titled “Naturamlo” that promised to prioritize fighting climate change and protecting the environment, especially in areas inhabited by indigenous peoples. However, over the past two years that he has been in office, he has shown little interest in upholding this promise and has instead favored tourism promotion and state industries such as Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico’s nationalized oil and gas company. He also has instituted the construction of various projects that are deeply unpopular throughout Mexico, largely for the massive negative environmental impact they will have. He did fund a project that would incentivize farmers to plant fruit trees by giving them a monthly allowance, but reports show that many farmers are cutting down trees to make room for the fruit trees, which lends the project ineffectual. Overall, AMLO’s commitment to the environment has first waned since his time in office and then ultimately done a complete switch, as he has created more damage than he has mended by his support of oil, gas, and unnecessary construction to benefit tourists. Pictured here, AMLO attended the Climate Leader Summit but Mexico is falling behind other countries’ environmental efforts. 

Dos Bocas Oil Refinery

Over the past few years, AMLO has come under fire from both economists and environmentalists for his promises to construct an $8-9 billion dollar oil refinery. The goal of this refinery is to make Mexico’s energy self-sufficient and to aid Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico’s nationalized oil and gas company, which is over $100 billion in debt, but many in Mexico wonder at what cost? Not only is this project out of Mexico’s budget (engineering firms reported to AMLO that $8 billion is not nearly enough to complete the project, but he ignored this warning), but this also wholly negates environmental efforts to decrease dependency on fossil fuels. Since Mexico has signed the Paris Climate Accords, they have agreed to work towards decreasing emissions, not creating the potential to raise emissions even more. Furthermore, the project is being constructed in the state of Tabasco in a zone that Pemex had agreed and promised to preserve back in 2006. The area is home to a state-protected mangrove forest. Mangroves absorb more carbon than trees, as well as provide habitat for many animals, 23 of which are also protected by the state. Even though Pemex had promised not to construct any new buildings or installations on this site, they are moving forward with the project that will level and impact much of the mangrove forest on the coastline (seen in the photo with dark green spots).

Tren Maya Railroad Construction

AMLO has also instituted a project called “Tren Maya” or the Mayan Train, which is a plan to construct a circular railway system around the Yucatán Peninsula that would have stops at prominent tourist destinations such as Cancún and ancient Mayan pyramids in Tulum and Palenque. AMLO’s reasoning for this effort is to create jobs in the impoverished peninsula. However, the project has spurned outcry from many groups including indigenous activists and environmental activists, many of whom overlap in their concerns. The construction of the train (which has already begun) will destroy farmland that is largely tended by indigenous peoples, as well as decimate miles of jungle. In doing so, many people and wildlife will be displaced from the land they inhabit. This includes jaguars who inhabit the jungle of the Yucatán and are categorized as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Because jaguars will be unable to cross the tracks, they will be trapped on either side of the train, either within the circle or outside of it. This will significantly diminish their already shrinking terrain. In this photo, AMLO enthusiastically points to the route of the Mayan Train that will displace countless indigenous Yucatán residents and obliterate miles of jungle and coastline.