Abstract

NAVA-TABLADA, Martha Elena. International Migration and Coffee Production in Veracruz, Mexico. Migr. Inter [online]. 2012, vol.6, n.3, pp.139-171. ISSN 2594-0279.

The Veracruz coffee sector is currently facing a crisis caused by the drop in international market prices, which has spurred an international migratory flow. Th e main research goal was to analyze the changes international migration has caused in the coffee production units of Coatepec, Veracruz. A survey was conducted on 56 families of coffee growers which have experienced migratory movements. The main changes caused by migration in the coffee production units were: an increase in the workload of those who remained in their communities, a rise in the number of laborers hired, the abandonment of coffee plantations, a decrease in technological management and the replacement of coffee plantations by monocultures. In conclusion, migration causes the stagnation, reduction or abandonment of coffee cultivation.

Keywords : migration; coffee; rural labor; Veracruz; Mexico.