Abstract

MORANDIN AHUERMA, Indra; CONTRERAS HERNANDEZ, Armando; AYALA ORTIZ, Dante Ariel  and  PEREZ MAQUEO, Octavio. Sustainability and the Mexican coffee culture. Madera bosques [online]. 2023, vol.29, n.1, e2912132.  Epub Nov 24, 2023. ISSN 2448-7597.  https://doi.org/10.21829/myb.2023.2912132.

Mexican coffee farmers face complex challenges with a variety of intertwined issues. The present work is an approach to the complex network of their problems. 10 participatory diagnosis workshops were carried out in the four states with the highest coffee production in Mexico: Chiapas, Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Puebla. These workshops were held in coordination with eight organizations and 312 social actors were present at them. 22 problems and 23 strengths were identified, as well as the relationships between them. All of this was focused on three central themes: organizational capacity, knowledge, and ethical values, in a highly complex network that generates vulnerability to negative external incidents and promotes the migration of young people and environmental degradation. In order to enhance its strengths, it is possible to improve the coffee culture and, in particular, the production and marketing of the aromatic. The theoretical work around the concept of sustainability allows us to recognize the value of the traditional knowledge of peasants and indigenous people, as well as their community relations of cooperation and economies that allow them to exchange, but whose central objective is not the accumulation of monetary value, but rather the satisfaction of human, individual and community needs. The result of the reflection contributes to a better understanding of sustainable practices in functional terms.

Keywords : peasantry; complexity; participatory diagnosis; indigenous; participatory research; transdiscipline.