Mexican government funds its farmers during food crisis

MEXICO CITY — The corn has begun to sprout on the hillsides south of Mexico’s capital, though it’s unclear whether those shoots will have enough water to grow or whether the farmer will be able to afford the increasingly expensive fertilizer.

What is known is that the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wants Mexicans to produce more of their own food in order to move toward self-sufficiency in key products and to control prices for basic foodstuffs.

The president’s idea, which involves giving rural families cash payments to grow crops and technical advice, isn’t new, but the ravages of the pandemic, climate change and market turmoil created by the war in Ukraine have given it new urgency. The government wants to head off food insecurity in a country where 44% of the population lives in poverty and where 27.5 million tons of corn are produced, but more than 40 million tons are consumed, according to government data.

Some farmers hope for additional state financial help and subsidized fertilizer. Others are suspicious of government plans. But all hope that this year’s harvest produces enough to feed their families and with luck a bit more to sell in their communities.

The government said it hopes that those participating in the program will increase their production of corn and beans by about two thirds.

Brothers Arturo, Benjamín and Víctor Corella, three teachers who in their retirement are farming family plots in Milpa Alta in southermost Mexico City, know everyone is having a rough time, but they are optimistic because after only one year in “Sowing Life,” or “Sembrando Vida” — one of López Obrador’s signature programs — they harvested 1 1/2 tons of corn where they had previously only gotten one.

“The most important reason for planting is that (the whole family) has self-sufficiency in corn, not having to go buy tortillas, but rather try to do it ourselves,” said Benjamín. Now, he said, a government technician coaches them through their planting strategies, improving their yield.

“Sowing Life” was publicized as an ambitious reforestation program that aimed to plant a million hectares of trees producing fruit and lumber. It was also hoped that giving rural families a sustainable source of revenue and a monthly cash payment would keep more of them on their land rather than migrating north.

The “Sowing Life” program counts with an investment of nearly $4 billion and some 450,000 participating growers, each of whom receives a monthly $225 payment from the government. The real number of people involved is far larger though, because to qualify each grower needs to farm about 6 acres — more land than many farmers have — and often entire families or even communities pool their land like the Corellas.

Ariadna Montiel, secretary of the welfare ministry, said the goal is to expand the program and offer new support to those already enrolled so they can farm more land, add new crops or start to produce and use organic fertilizers.

Montiel said the effort’s results will be seen in four or five months when corn is harvested, but only the growers’ communities are likely to see the prices of those basic foods drop. “If we think about these families, which are the poorest, having this (food self-sufficiency) guaranteed, we remove a concern,” she said.

If they have more than they can eat themselves, they can sell it locally or to the government for a fair price to supply its food programs for the most marginalized.