Vicente Guerrero Group experience: Promoting local processes for agroecological scaling

Abstract

In Mexico, family farming accounts for 85% of production units, 80% of agricultural land and 54% of food production, a group that is important for food security and sovereignty. Peasant social movements, such as the Vicente Guerrero Group (GVG), an emblematic peasant organization in Mexico, see family farming as a key pillar for advancing collective and productive processes with agroecological basis and achieving food sovereignty. This study aimed to identify, recognize, and highlight the role of GVG as a partner and supporter of local processes through the peasant-to-peasant methodology. The research was conducted with 34 families from three communities linked to the GVG using a mixed approach that combined qualitative methods (participant observation, semi-structured interviews, workshops) and quantitative methods (survey). At least 27 actions and agroecological practices were identified; strategies that seek the responsible use and management of agrobiodiversity, soil, and water, along with actions for exchanging healthy agroecological products. The methodological strategy of agroecological intervention by the GVG with families is pro­moted through three strategic pillars: 1) dialogues or exchange of knowledge, 2) visits to the production spaces of the linked families, and 3) trial and/or replication of agroecological innovations in family plots. Foundations that made it possible to understand the dynamics of linking and consolidating the collective processes of the GVG, in addition to being positioned as a repository of efforts, struggles, and the dissemination of improved peasant practices for more than 40 years on a territorial scale.