Abstract

HERRERA LOPEZ, Francisco F.; FLETES OCON, Héctor B.  and  VALDIVIEZO OCAMPO, Guillermo S.. Territorial Collective Action in a Mexico-Guatemala Border Context. Persian Lemon Producers of the San Gregorio Irrigation District. Región y sociedad [online]. 2020, vol.32, e1391.  Epub Mar 10, 2021. ISSN 2448-4849.  https://doi.org/10.22198/rys2020/32/1391.

The aim of this paper is to examine the collective action mechanisms implemented by the small Persian lemon producers in the San Gregorio Irrigation District in the Mexico-Guatemala border region. The analysis of the strategies that these actors developed in the production, dissemination of knowledge, and commercialization areas reveals the way in which small producers face the challenges of territorial development and changes in the food sector. Because the production of this citrus fruit is a recent process in the territory, there are no specific statistics and previous studies to take them as a reference, so it starts with an exploratory study to later carry out a qualitative perspective methodology based on participant observation interviews with different local actors, knowledge of the oral history, the application of a survey to the small producers, and the consultation of databases. It is found that to fight against the restructuring in the food sector, the local producers recovered endogenous elements to the territory, which allowed them to cooperate and coordinate through organizations and collective action. With this, they adopted and adapted to their conditions an external program to introduce a new crop.

Keywords : rural territories; globalization; smallholders; commercialization; Mexico-Guatemala border.