Constructing livelihoods in rural Mexico:: Milpa in Mayan culture

This article concerns indigenous Mayan communities whose traditional pattern of agricultural subsistence, the milpa, is of much greater significance that many development efforts suppose. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, it examines local meanings attached to the milpa and its relevance to identity, social interaction, constructions of the environment and petty commodity production in explaining resistance to change. Development analysts and NGOs who ignore this fundamental feature of peasant livelihood will continue to provide inappropriate development solutions resulting in not only inefficient use of funds but also potential damage to the rural communities whom they purport to benefit.