Sustainable Agribusiness: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty in Rural Mexico
Meet two Indigenous women in Mexico who are transforming their traditional farming practices into a thriving agribusiness.
Mercedes Sánchez and Bernarda Mauricio learned the importance of caring for the land from a young age. They belong to the Mazahua Indigenous group, one of the largest in the State of Mexico. In Mexico and elsewhere, Indigenous women face persistent barriers to education, health, and economic opportunity. They also experience higher levels of extreme poverty.
What Does Breaking the Cycle of Poverty Mean in Rural Communities?
For years, Mercedes and Bernarda grew beans and corn to feed their families in San Felipe del Progreso, a town about two and a half hours outside Mexico City. The milpa, a traditional farming system of planting several crops in the same area, represented a livelihood, routine, and responsibility. They did not think about store shelves or supply chains. They planted in order to live.
Both women had small plots of land and a greenhouse, but lacked the technical tools to turn their production into a sustainable business. Their reality reflects that of more than 992,000 women working in Mexico’s agricultural sector. Although women represent 43% of Mexico’s agricultural labor force, they face persistent barriers to accessing land, financing, and training. Only about 27% of landowners are women.
Strategic Pathways to Economic Mobility
In 2023, Mercedes and Bernarda decided to change course. They joined Fundación Walmart’s Pequeño Productor Program, implemented by TechnoServe, to teach smallholder farmers to manage greenhouses, control pests, and improve plant nutrition. The women also learned how to meet the requirements of the formal market. For example, food safety standards that ensure products are handled, packed, and transported under conditions that prevent contamination, protect quality, and guarantee they are safe for consumers.
A year later, Mercedes and Bernarda were among the farmers who sold 3,476 kilos of Saladette tomatoes to Walmart for the first time. This accomplishment proved they could negotiate without intermediaries. Farmers avoid intermediaries because they often offer unfair prices, fail to honor payment terms, and impose terms of negotiation that disproportionately favor their own interests over those of farmers.
Sustainable Agribusiness: A Long-Term Solution to the Poverty Trap
In April 2024, Mercedes, Bernarda, and five other producers formed their agribusiness, Jitomateros Mazahuas. They wanted to create a thriving business that delivers high-quality produce while using sustainable practices.
As the treasurer, Mercedes oversees accounts and crops with the same discipline. “I didn’t know what a production specification sheet was or what it meant to sell seriously,” she explained. “Now I manage the finances, and I want to teach my children how to grow this.”
A production specification sheet is a document used by an organization to define the technical and quality requirements that fruit or vegetable suppliers must meet, such as size, weight, ripeness stage, and other product attributes.
Mercedes also shares what she has learned with other women in her community, convinced that knowledge must multiply.
In August 2025, their second shipment reached 11,880 kilos. Their goal for 2026 is to bring in more women producers and young people, expand production, and consolidate their presence in the formal market.
New Autonomy: Managing Finances and Inspiring the Next Generation
Bernarda, a widow and mother of three, found farming to be a way to support her family and build her autonomy. “Before, I planted crops to eat,” she shared. “ Today, my produce farm is my income.” She is proud that her youngest son wants to study agronomy and strengthen the agribusiness.
Indigenous women grow more than 50% of the food in Mexico, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. They are guardians of seeds, biodiversity, and territory. Mercedes and Bernarda are part of a practice that sustains their families and empowers other women in the Mazahua community.
They did not leave the milpa behind; they transformed it. And in that process, they also established their place in Mexican agriculture.
