Maize Diversity, Market Access, and Poverty Reduction in the Western Highlands of Guatemala

Jon Hellin,Rachael Cox,Santiago López-Ridaura

doi:10.1659/mrd-journal-d-16-00065.1

Jon Hellin, Rachael Cox + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1659/mrd-journal-d-16-00065.1

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Abstract

The western highlands of Guatemala lie within the area where maize was first domesticated, and maize remains central to farmers' livelihood security. Over 50% of the population in the region are in poverty, and over 48% suffer from chronic malnutrition. Development efforts have focused on improved land management, crop diversification, and improved access to markets, especially for high-value vegetable crops such as snow peas. As a result of successful initiatives worldwide, more attention is being directed at the extent to which farmers can benefit from market opportunities for indigenous crops by receiving a price premium for providing the environmental service of conserving agricultural biodiversity. Such an approach bridges the gap between poverty alleviation and in situ conservation. We explored this potential development pathway through both qualitative and quantitative research. Focus groups were conducted in 5 communities in the maize-growing highlands of Guatemala, followed by a survey of 989 far...

Highlights

Poverty in the Guatemalan highlandsRural poverty and food insecurity are endemic in Guatemala, and the overwhelming majority of the impoverished population lives in rural areas
Markets for traditional maize varieties exist in many parts of Mexico, but our results suggest that, in Guatemala’s western highlands, the potential links between on-farm conservation of native maize, agricultural markets, and livelihood improvement are unlikely to be realized for most farmer, because there is such a maize deficit that farmers are unable to meet basic subsistence needs
Our results show that most farmers in the western highlands of Guatemala conserve local maize varieties for cultural and social purposes, and that this effort is economically supported by off-farm income-generating activities

Summary

Introduction

Rural poverty and food insecurity are endemic in Guatemala, and the overwhelming majority of the impoverished population lives in rural areas. Indigenous groups typically have less access to education and suffer from higher rates of poverty and malnutrition; these communities make up 38% of the total population and live mainly in highland areas (United States Agency for International Development 2010). Guatemala has the fourth highest level of child undernutrition in the world (World Food Programme 2014). The overwhelming majority of indigenous communities are engaged in smallholder agriculture, largely subsistence but with some market-oriented production. Over 90% of farmers in Guatemala farm on 20% of the country’s arable land, contributing to the high levels of inequality in Guatemala. Indigenous populations often farm marginal land that is very susceptible to soil and land degradation (Figure 1)

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