Decolonizing Agriculture in Guatemala

By Rebecca Day Cutter

Ab’iix is an intensive agricultural system developed and used by the Maya for thousands of years. It produces high yields of food crops, medicinal plants, and animal forage with the use of native seeds, natural fertilizers, and integrated pest management. In Guatemala, however, Ab’iix is more commonly known as “Milpa”. This word is actually a Nahuatl (Indigenous from Mexico) word meaning “cultivated field”. Many names in Guatemala are actually in the language of the Nahuatl guides who traveled South from Mexico into Guatemala accompanying Spanish Conquistadores in the early 1500s. In fact, the word Guatemala roughly translates to “place of the trees” in Nahuatl. Further North, Ab’iix is known as The Three Sisters: corn, beans, and squash.

History of Agricultural Revolutions

To understand why so many farmers would abandon such a productive agricultural system I give you this simplified, highly digestible history of four agricultural revolutions and their impact on the Maya.

The First Agricultural Revolution began when hunter-gatherers shifted toward subsistence farming. According to historians, approximately 6,000 years ago the Maya began cultivating the wild teosinte to grow what is now known as maize or corn. They developed highly productive agricultural systems like Ab’iix and Chinampas, the floating gardens. In Guatemala, the Second Agricultural Revolution, which coincided with the 19th-century industrial revolution, introduced mechanization, and in Guatemala, the expropriation of Maya land for the establishment of large plantations. Toward the end of the 19th century, President Barrios abolished communal ownership of land altogether. Many displaced Maya worked as indentured servants on plantations that exported crops like cotton, indigo, sugar, rubber, coffee, and bananas. This turn toward monocultural, export-cropping, devastated Maya agricultural systems.

The “Green” Revolutions

In the mid-20th century, post-WWII, The Third Agricultural Revolution, also known as the Green Revolution, brought hybrid seeds, and chemical fertilizers and pesticides to rural farmers in Guatemala. These development packages, delivered by government and international aid organizations as free hand-outs under the guise of poverty alleviation, quickly overtook traditional agricultural practices. Roughly 15 years later, in the 1970s, the cost of these once subsidized government hand-outs drove many farmers, who could not afford them, to abandon farming for seasonal migration to plantations. Farmers, who for over 2,500 years saved and planted their heritage seeds, saw a rapid loss in plant diversity. This period overlaps with the 36-year armed conflict which was primarily a fight for land reform.

In the late 20th century, with the Second Green Revolution, we saw the introduction of genetically modified organisms, (GMOs). Particularly devastating to the Maya was the introduction of GMO corn seed which can cross-pollinate with native corn, making it impossible to save the seeds. While native crops are naturally climate-resilient, hybrid and GMO crops are dependent on chemical fertilizers and pesticides which poison the soil, water, air, and food.

Today, Maya Achi communities face food insecurity as recurring droughts and extreme weather devastates crops. International markets for export crops are collapsing and COVID-19 has communities on lockdown with little access to local markets. For Julian Vasquez Chun, this crisis gives rise to opportunity or as we say in Permaculture, the problem is the solution.

Participatory Action Research

In his community of El Sauce, the only community where he can work during the COVID-19 lockdown, Julian has begun a comparative study of the conventional cornfield and the traditional Ab’iix. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the differences in input and output of the two agricultural systems so that farmers can decide for themselves which is more productive and healthier for the Earth and for the people. Julian is also documenting the rich agricultural history of his people in order to preserve this knowledge and share it with a new generation of farmers.

The study looks at social and environmental indicators, like the soil classification, access to water, pests, square meters of land under cultivation, and the history of agricultural practices on the land. It also looks at the preparation of the land, cultivation, harvests, and costs of production.

Campesino a Campesino (Farmer to Farmer)

Ten participating farmers are cultivating two fields each of equal size and similar conditions, one with the traditional Ab’iix which is a diverse planting of open-pollinated native seeds and the other with conventional agriculture practices and hybridized, “improved” corn seed. This is an extensive study that’s as much qualitative as it is quantitative. It takes into consideration the importance of clean air, and water, healthy soil, and food, the preservation of traditional knowledge and heritage seeds.

Using Campesino a Campesino (farmer to farmer) methodology for sharing traditional knowledge and best practices, Julian hopes to see a significant shift in agricultural practices in his community.

At The Garden’s Edge, we’ve seen the benefits of the Ab’iix over the better half of two decades. This highly intensive, integrative system produces a wide variety of food plants and plant medicines. The health of people and their environment depends on making the shift toward more regenerative agriculture. We look forward to sharing with you Julian’s work as he moves into year one of this three-year study!