Adoption and State-Production of ddt in Mexico (1940-1980)

Abstract

This work is a historic analysis of the use of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (ddt) in Mexico since the 1940s and its implications for the then nascent domestic agrochemical industry and the social development programs boosted by the Mexican State. ddt was introduced to Mexico at the beginning of that decade as one of the main technological inputs of the agrarian and health models designed by the Rockefeller Foundation, which identified both malaria and low agricultural production as critical problems for this country. The adoption of these models by the Mexican political and economic system encouraged the creation of public institutions and a national agrochemical industry as well, which allowed the persistent ddt use and production for more than 50 years in Mexico.