IPSI Case Study Summary Sheet
Basic Information
Title of case study
Landrace maize diversity in milpa: a socio-ecological production landscape in Soteapan, Santa Marta
Mountains, Veracruz, Mexico
Submitting IPSI member organization(s)Fundación Semillas de Vida, A.C.

Other contributing organization(s) (IPSI members and/or non-members)
Author(s) and affiliation(s)Adelita San Vicente Tello and Malin Jönsson, Fundación Semillas de Vida, A.C.
Format of case study
Manuscript
Language

English(manuscript or audiovisual)

Keywords
Landrace maize, small-scale farmers, biocultural diversity, milpa, knowledge, indigenous people
Date of submission (or update, if this is an update of an existing
13 December 2019case study)

Web link (of the case study orlead organization if available formore information)

https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:7506/SITR_vol5_fullset_web.pdf#page=83

Geographical Information
Country (where site(s) or activities described in the case study are located – can be multiple, or even “global”)
MexicoLocation(s) (within the country or countries – leave blank if specific location(s) cannot be identified)Santa Marta Mountains, Veracruz
Longitude/latitude or Google Maps link (if location is identified)
https://www.google.com/maps/place/18%C2%B013'50.4%22N+94%C2%B052'23.7%22W/@18.2306718,95.013331,11z/
Ecosystem(s)ForestGrassland
Agriculturalx
In-land water
CoastalDryland
Mountain
Urban/peri-urban
Other (Please specify)
Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area
The Santa Marta Mountains interrupt the plains of the Veracruz coast, generating mountainous environmental conditions
in a tropical zone with high humidity, from which life flourishes in its multiple diversity expressions. The indigenous people
have developed and conserved great landrace maize diversity and species associated with the milpa in line with themountains’ environmental variation. The area’s geological history and orographic conditions, with forests and jungles,generate moisture and rain catchment.

Description of human-nature interactions in the area
Thanks to the hard work of generations of small-scale farmers and also the special environmental conditions, themountains are not only a reserve of vital resources and biological richness, but also a haven for a particularly vastagrobiodiversity of landrace maize. The maize grown here is distinguished in the impressive variation of pigments, usesand adaptations.

Contents
Status (“ongoing” or “completed”)
Completed
Period (MM/YY to MM/YY)
2017
Rationale (why activities or policies described, or information shared in the case study are needed)
Maize is not only the most important grain in our country, but also worldwide. Its rapid expansion across theworld is likely due to its considerable capacity to adapt to different production conditions and also thanks to itsversatility of use, making it an ingredient in various industrial products. The global market is dominated by ayellow maize, modified to generate an increased amount of starch; a large part is also genetically modified(GMO) and produced with seeds owned by a few transnational corporations. Precisely because of this global
homogenization of maize, it becomes more relevant to emphasize the importance of the vast biodiversity thatstill exists; landrace maize is conserved and developed by farmers themselves.
Objectives (goals of activities or policies described, or of producing the case study)
The objective of the project was to increase understanding of the multiple values associated with sustainable
use of resources in the socio-ecological production landscape (SEPL) known as milpa, particularly in terms ofnative maize.
Activities and/or practices employed
During the year 2017, Semillas de Vida, in collaboration with communities and authorities in the municipality Soteapan,and graduates and researchers of the Intercultural University of Veracruz, guided experiences in the study, collection andcharacterization of the diversity, management and use of landrace maize seeds in communities in the Santa MartaMountains. We collected and characterized samples of this diversity, as well as carried out pigment analyses with help
from researchers at the university.

Results
The results highlight the importance of the agrobiodiversity cultivated by the indigenous and small-scale farmcommunities, and illustrate the wide knowledge they have and the multiple values of nature (MVN). This exceptional
diversity is related to the special type of slope agriculture applied in the Santa Marta Mountains. The 15 variations ofnative maize found demonstrated important adaptation to the specific climatic conditions and the multiple values ofnature given by the farmers to the milpa production.

Lessons learned (factors in success or failure, challenges and opportunities)
The knowledge and diversity is exceptional, and probably greater than in other tropical regions in the country.
The diversity is associated with multiple values of the SEPL, such as different food uses, especially for black anddark blue maize, preferred in the traditional drink pozol and cultivated by practically all the families in themountains. Together with maize cultivation, accompanied by ample plant diversity within milpa, the Popoluca(Nuntajiyi) people have traditional diverse small-scale coffee plantations and in recent years they have also
added production, management and commercialization of understory palm, selling their foliage.
Key messages
To maintain and develop maize agrobiodiversity, it is necessary to support farmers, for example throughsubsidies that remunerate them for their meaningful work of selection and adaptation. In fact, in Mexico thepossibility of paying the farmers for preserving biodiversity has been discussed, and another suggestion has
been paying a higher price in the market, particularly for their maize. This could be accomplished by agovernmental institution buying the maize for a dignified price. Nevertheless, it is also possible to increase theincome of the farmers though opening up new markets, since today a direct connection between market andproduction is lacking.
Relationship to other IPSI activities (if the case study is related to any other IPSI collaborative activities, case studies, etc.)
This case study originally appeared in the Satoyama Initiative Thematic Review v. 5.
Funding (any relevant information about funding of activities or projects described in the case study)

Contributions to Global Agendas
CBD Aichi Biodiversity Targets (https://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/)
The table below shows based on the self-evaluation by author(s). ⚫ and ◼ indicates the “direct” or “indirect” contributions to theCBD’s Aichi Biodiversity Targets respectively to which the work described in this case study contributes to.

Strategic Goal A

Strategic Goal B◼

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Strategic Goal C

Strategic Goal D

Strategic Goal E⚫

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs)
The table below shows based on the self-evaluation by author(s). ⚫ and ◼ indicates the “direct” or “indirect” contributions to theSDGs respectively to which the work described in this case study contributes to.
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