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A Portrait of Sustainable Agriculture in Chiapas

DESMI - Mexico - Food Security

Mushroom farming: it’s not how most people imagine a rural farming community in Chiapas: a dozen men and women donning surgical masks, caps and latex gloves.

Mushrooms and Corncobs

This is a picture of sustainable agriculture. Collective members are sowing mushroom seeds in bags filled with corncobs, which act as a fermenting agent. The members wear protective gear to prevent seed contamination. They’re producing zeta (oyster) mushrooms, an income-generating project started in 2003.

The project was started with the help of our partner when “agroecology promoters” in San Rafael, Chiapas established a training center to teach themselves how to grow these lucrative, organic food crops.

Less than a month after the mushroom spores are prepared, the first harvest will be ready to sell at a local market in the nearest city.

Sustainable Farming Builds Local Economies

“I hope the idea of organic farming spreads so that the land can recover.”

When asked about their hopes for the project, staff and trainees readily mention self-sufficiency, better nutrition, increased income, and continuing to care for the environment.

As one trainee says, “I hope the idea of organic farming spreads so that the land can recover. Look at how the crops grow through organic agriculture. Each year, the land becomes more and more fertile.”

After the mushrooms are harvested, the byproducts are converted into organic fertilizer, which turns out a high quality, pesticide-free corn (used in tortillas and livestock feed). Then the leftover cobs (most collective members have small cornfields) are used for mushroom production.

Identifying Weeds As Food

And since they have stopped spraying their crops with commercial herbicides, San Rafael has seen the return of many native, nutritious plants – like chicory, turnip, and tomato. Instead of being killed off as “weeds,” now these plants are harvested.

DESMI has also supported a health clinic in this area, and recently initiated a reproductive health education project. San Rafael also built an education center, financially supported by , where collectives send local teachers for training. San Rafael is becoming a vibrant local economy, step-by-step, project-by-project.