Fostering Traditional Yucatec Maya Management of Natural Resources through Microcredits: A Community Case Study

Abstract

In this research we show the way in which a small Yucatec Mayan community conducts a diversified management strategy of its natural resources, as well as how this strategy is supplemented and financed by microfinance. The local description of the ecological process of succession was used for describing the strategy of nature appropriation. Network analysis was used for studying how productive activities are correlated, depending on households having or not having microcredits. Results show that households carry out a diversified management strategy of natural resource in which 12 productive activities are implemented in 5 different land-use units. Study findings show that the network of productive activities of households with microfinance is more interconnected, and that 59% of the people are devoting their microcredits to finance traditional activities such as crop fields, beekeeping, or home gardens, which are the most socially, economically, and ecologically contextualized productive activities in the region.

Keywords:

• Mexico
• microcredits
• natural resources management
• network analysis
• Yucatec Mayas

Acknowledgments

Sincere thanks to all the people from Tesoco Nuevo who generously offered help, support, and valuable insights. We also thank Fundación Ayuda para Ayudar A.C. and RRMM Aurora del Rivero Heredia STJ for their support during fieldwork. We really appreciate the challenging critique of four anonymous reviewers. Financial support was received from the Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica–Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (PAPIIT IN301910).