A Farmer Gets His Own Piece of Land in Chiapas

Photo by Laura Pohl, Bread for the World

The Bread blog recently posted a great piece about the efforts of 

Marvin García, a resident of Chiapas, Mexico, to obtain his own parcel of land with the assistance of Agros International. The organization helps poor small-scale farmers buy fertile land with loans that carry a very low interest rate. García now grows corn, coffee, mushrooms and limes on his small piece of land located in the sustainable community of Santa Fe near the town of Comitán.

Here's an excerpt:

For years, Garcia tried to buy land in Chiapas, but the federal government repeatedly denied his application. He finally got involved with Agros in 2007, and a year later he obtained his land at Santa Fe. His life was transformed. As he explains, “It’s not the same to rent or borrow land to grow for selling or self-consumption.” 

The post makes the point that investing in Mexico’s rural development is critical to easing pressures to migrate to the United States. 

Santa Fe is a community of men, women, and children. It is not a village of grandparents taking care of their grandchildren because a whole generation is missing—forced to seek work far from home.

I highly recommend this piece written by Dulce Gamboa of the Bread staff.  It is accompanied by great pictures by Laura Pohl. 

Read the full piece