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The Secretariat for Rural Development of the State Government of Chiapas, southern Mexico, has been charged with conducting a campaign against the field rat which began in February 1991. Four areas were identified as key sites for the campaign benefiting 3,355 farmers in a total area of 8,000 ha and an initial budget of approximately $500m Mexican pesos (US$170,000). The major crops for which damage is reported are maize, sugar cane and cacao. The term "field rat" is a general one encompassing any rodent causing damage to field crops and in Chiapas probably covers a variety of species; no studies have been done to identify the species or quantify losses to crops. Personnel had no previous experience in rodent control and no resources to permit preliminary investigations in the field. A method for assessing field damage levels was developed and fields were treated with zinc phosphide (high damage), diphacinone (medium damage) or untreated (low or no damage). A decrease in subsequent losses was reported by farmers involved in the campaign. The campaign in 1992 is restricted by financial and logistic constraints as the field rat campaign has been united with locust and other field pests in a single campaign entitled "Control of Pests to Basic Crops" with a much reduced budget overall. Problems found in the 1991 work and the limitations and of the campaign are discussed.

Micro credit programs provide institutional arrangements for low‐income people to transit from nonmarket to market‐oriented settings. This article develops a data set of payment records to determine micro credit participants' behavior on repayment performance. The findings shed new light strongly supporting micro credit as a feasible alternative to successfully provide financial resources to the poor, when controlling for asymmetric information. The empirical evidence indicates that learning by association through peer mentoring is a significant determinant in explaining high repayment rates, whereas peer monitoring is not. (JEL O1, O17, L31, J15)

2010 Spring. ; Includes bibliographic references (pages 129-136). ; Covers not scanned. ; Print version deaccessioned 2022. ; Indigenous people in Chiapas, Mexico have endured hundreds of years of attacks on their cultures and life ways. They have been marginalized, excluded, and oppressed. They have experienced the loss of ancestral lands and the destruction of their natural resources and environment. They have been denied fundamental human rights including access to land, education, and healthcare. They have suffered disproportionately high infant and maternal mortality rates and deaths from curable, preventable disease. They have survived without access to clean water, sanitation facilities, or electricity. Finally in 1994 with the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and other Neoliberal economic projects on the horizon, over three thousand Indigenous people came together, called themselves Zapatistas, and declared war on the Mexican government. The world watched as the Zapatistas demanded basic human rights and the Mexican government promised reform. When the government failed to honor their promises, the Zapatistas responded by creating autonomous communities with their own form of government, education, and health care. The purpose of this study is to assess the autonomous Zapatista healthcare system in the Oventic caracole following the Zapatista rebellion using a political ecology theoretical approach. Specifically, does the Zapatista healthcare system operate successfully and how has this model changed healthcare access and well being of the people living in this civilian targeted warfare zone? What effect has the militarization had on health care? This research has the potential to provide valuable contributions to the Zapatista struggle as they continue to develop and improve the healthcare system in autonomous communities living in resistance. Additionally, this work may serve as a resource and guide for local and international non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, medical professionals, and Zapatista support groups who wish to contribute to the growth, sustainability, success, and autonomy of the Zapatista healthcare system.

ABSTRACTPayments for Ecosystem Services (PES) is a well‐established conservation policy approach worldwide. Where forests are owned and managed by rural and indigenous communities, PES initiatives often aim to incentivize the joint adoption of forest protection and sustainable management practices. However, not all communities might have the will or capacity to maintain such practices over the long term. This article examines a PES programme in a rural community of Chiapas, Mexico. It shows that while a majority of the community's landowners have engaged in PES through two distinct working groups, a large share of the community forests remain outside the PES programme, and many landowners resist the extension of PES rules to non‐targeted forests. The authors argue that this incipient form of fragmented collective action on forest management results from challenged leaderships, and from PES accommodating a history of increasing individuation of the commons. This accommodation, however, has ignited social conflict, reified tenure inequalities, and failed to strengthen local institutions to enable them to legitimately deal with the contested interests that underpin the fate of community forests. This article shows the limits of PES when parachuted into a context of uneven land tenure, weak collective action and contested leaderships.

The concept of peacebuilding holds enormous importance for international relations, particularly in regions facing impending violent conflict and those recovering from such conflict. However, in order for peacebuilding to be a viable alternative to traditional peace operations, scholars and practitioners need to have a shared understanding of what peacebuilding is and what goals it hopes to achieve, in addition to fluid strategies for implementation. This dissertation seeks to identify strategies for building sustainable peace through sustainable community development and democratization. Using a qualitative metasynthesis of five ethnographies conducted in Chiapas Mexico, this dissertation develops mid-range theories, or strategies, for building peace in Chiapas and in regions experiencing low-intensity conflict more generally. These strategies are based upon the development of Pluriethnic collective governance at the local level in regions that are experiencing low-intensity conflict related to indigenous communities. ; Ph. D.

"Motherhood in Mexico is profoundly shaped by the legacy of colonialism. This ethnography situates motherhood in a critical global health analysis of maternal health inequalities and interventions in the southeast state of Chiapas. Using a transitional life course framework, it demonstrates how the transition to motherhood is never complete. Once a good mother is defined, she becomes undefined, the goal posts moved, and the rules confronted"--