From the field to coffee: agricultural transition in a Mayan territory (1970-1997)

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the determinant processes in the transformation of agriculture in Santa Marta, Chenalhó, Chiapas, and a community of Tzotzil Indians during the period of 1970 and 1997. This research involved a literature review and conducted interviews of oral history. The findings allowed identifying demographic pressure, replacing the cornfield production under the slash and burn system by intensive slash-and-burning, and the introduction of coffee rowing as the fundamental processes of transformation of agriculture in Santa Marta, where underlying changes in the management of space and natural resources expressed physically and socially, in the landscape of its territory in a series of agreements and conflicts between the habitants of the community.