Abstract

JUAREZ-SANCHEZ, José P.. Indigenous migration towards marginalized agricultural spaces in México: A Case To Be Told. agric. soc. desarro [online]. 2015, vol.12, n.1, pp.87-105. ISSN 1870-5472.

Facing the demand for scarcely qualified workforce, the free labor market is promoted and an unfavorable agricultural policy is applied in rural spaces to the production of basic grains and coffee. One consequence is an increase in the level of poverty of rural indigenous populations and migration to capitalized agricultural spaces. Through the non-statistical sampling method called "snowball", a sample of 76 agricultural day laborers was determined, who migrated from indigenous regions to work in the municipality of Calpan, Puebla. The results indicate that migrant day laborers keep characteristics from their regions of origin and that the main causes for migration are poverty and scarce employment in the communities where they are from. They are employed in Calpan because of the lack of workforce in this municipality to harvest crops; the income they obtain is higher than in their places of origin; and, most expressed that they live better in this region than in their places of origin. The conclusion is that migration is seasonal and intra-regional, and that it contributes to improve the living conditions of day laborers in their spaces of origin.

Keywords : peasant; inequality; marginalized spaces; domestic migration; poverty.