Growing resilience: Indigenous farmer-to-farmer learning among the Maya-Q’eqchi’ in Northern Guatemala

This blog post was first published on SIANI website

A landscape of inequality – and indigenous resilience

Guatemala is one of the most unequal nations in Latin America. A stable macroeconomy, led by a small number of wealthy families who control both the economy and politics, hides this fact. Meanwhile, 16.3% of the population lives in extreme poverty (INE, 2024). In places like the Northern department of Alta Verapaz, where most people are indigenous, however, this figure rises to 58.5% (SEGEPLAN, 2023). This is the result of centuries of public policies that have marginalized indigenous communities and undermined their territorial rights.

Despite this reality, Mayan communities, such as the Maya-Q’eqchi’ in Northern Guatemala, continue to find ways to strengthen their resilience, even as old and new risks threaten their ancestral lands to the point of disappearance. Monocultures such as coffee, African palm and avocado are usually subsidised by the state, allowing them to compete directly with the sustainable use of land by Maya Q’eqchi’ communities. Foreign aid projects aimed at improving the livelihoods of these families have had limited impact because NGO practices remain paternalistic, relying on handouts and technical training designed outside the local context, in so-called developed countries.

Community voices leading the change 

Although the local grassroots NGO SANK began developing the small farmer school (Escuela Campesina in Spanish) fifteen years ago, thousands of small farmers still believe that monoculture and conventional practices are the best way to farm – largely because agronomists have told them so. Much work is needed to transform the agricultural practices of these indigenous communities, which currently rely on producing only a few crops, such as corn and beans, as well as cash crops like cardamom and coffee, thereby increasing market dependencies.

With SLU’s support, SANK has reached 119 new families in new communities, opening space for a renewed vision of reviving local practices and using local resources to implement more sustainable, culturally viable agriculture. These families live in five different territories: Chisec, Raxruha, Cobán, Carchá and Lanquin. The Escuela Campesina was established alongside the Small Farmers’ Contest, a friendly farmer-to-farmer competition in which families visit each other and gain points based on the variety and size of their crops. These two activities complement each other in promoting the expansion of indigenous small-scale farming that is both climate resilient and culturally adapted.

Furthermore, SANK is interested in strengthening the capacities of small farmers to enable them to participate in their local indigenous organisations and work together in the governance of land and natural resources. This strengthens the community government, enabling them to exercise their economic, social and cultural rights. Through the Escuela Campesina, farmers are also encouraged to engage in dialogue with state authorities, advocating for investment in small-scale farming and sustainable agriculture.

Why reviving indigenous agriculture matters now

The revival of indigenous agricultural practices such as crop diversification and growing native crops helps families achieve food sovereignty and generate much-needed income, as most Maya-Qeqchi families live below the US$1 per-day poverty line. A key focus is on women’s emancipation, using indigenous farming as a way to secure women’s access to land , which they often lack.

Practising their own forms of agriculture is also a counter-proposal to the advancement of monocultures in their territories. Indigenous communities are currently affected by the contamination of their watersheds and rivers caused by monocultures. These businesses have expanded enormously without their consent, directly impacting the social, cultural and economic lives by dispossessing them of their natural resources, such as land, water and forests.

Growing impact: What the Escuela Campesina has achieved

The main impact of the Escuela Campesina was to equip 119 new families with the tools to revive indigenous practices, such as observing moon phases to boost crop yields, and learning about the history of the Q’eqchi’ people to foster indigenous identity. Families also visited fellow farmers who had successfully implemented alternative models based on crop diversification to avoid dependence on market prices. These farmers prioritised food sovereignty and income generation by using short-circuit markets, such as community and municipal markets.

Moreover, the project also strengthened the capabilities of 135 families who had previously participated in similar activities, helping them deepen their understanding of indigenous values and community. Through farmer-to-farmer exchanges, participants shared this knowledge and applied it to advance local, sustainable agriculture.

Indigenous territories are at great risk of disappearing due to agricultural extractivism, land concentration and migration. Recovering Mayan agricultural practices and integrating new knowledge produced by families, provides the necessary skills to mitigate these risks. To ensure the future of indigenous agriculture, more women and youth need to be involved.

Currently, participating farmers are designing initiatives that include a public policy proposal calling on government institutions to support small farmers through a system of incentives. SANK facilitates dialogue between indigenous governments and small farmers’ organisations and the Guatemalan state, helping communities to exercise these rights. In addition, cross-boundary alliances, such as the collaboration between SLU and SANK, bring together visionary partners (Ojha et al. 2022) who view resilience not as a return to a state of injustice, but as a process of transformation toward more just and equitable ways of living together (Gonda et al. 2023). Such partnerships and critical self-reflection are crucial for empowering indigenous communities to defend their lands and actively shape a sustainable, self-determined future.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

APROBA SANK is an indigenous civil society organisation established in Guatemala in 2002. It aims to revitalise Maya-Q’eqchi’ indigenous territory governance. Its assembly comprises more than 100 representatives of indigenous communities who have agreed to recuperate their social organisations and agricultural practices, as well as protect their indigenous lands. Together with indigenous authorities, APROBA-SANK is seeking to reclaim lost territories due to monoculture extractivism brought about by state policies that subsidise large-scale capital investments while neglecting small-scale farming.

Noémi Gonda is a researcher at SLU whose work focuses on environmental governance, resilience, and democracy. She has experience collaborating with farmers, Indigenous communities, and NGOs in Central America, including a long-standing partnership with the grassroots organization SANK that began in 2004. Before completing her PhD, she worked directly with local communities to strengthen agricultural practices and promote food sovereignty.

References

Gonda, N., Flores. S., Casolo, J.J. and Nightingale, A.J. (2023). “Resilience and Conflict: Rethinking Climate Resilience through Indigenous Territorial Struggles.” The Journal of Peasant Studies 50 (6): 2312–38. doi:10.1080/03066150.2022.2161372.

Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). “El INE presenta cifras de pobreza en Guatemala.” Boletín informativo, August 21, 2024. https://www.ine.gob.gt/2024/08/21/el-ine-presenta-cifras-de-pobreza-en-guatemala/.

Ojha, H., Nightingale, A.J., Gonda, N., Muok, B.O., Eriksen, S., Khatri, D. Paudel, D. Transforming environmental governance: critical action intellectuals and their praxis in the field. Sustain Sci 17, 621–635 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01108-z

Secretaría de Planificación y Programación de la Presidencia (SEGEPLAN). Informe anual de avances en la implementación de la Política de Desarrollo Social y Población, Año 2024. Guatemala City: SEGEPLAN, 2024. https://portal.segeplan.gob.gt/segeplan/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Informe-anual-de-avances-en-la-implementacion-de-la-Politica-de-Desarrollo-Social-y-Poblacion.-Ano-2024.pdf.