Food Security in Mexico and the Renegotiation of NAFTA: Opportunity for a Strategy for Rural Development and Combating Poverty

With the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed in 1994, Mexico became more dependent on the foreign market to supply the food it consumes, it is estimated that currently the global food dependency in our country is around 42%. Superiority of productivity and the high subsidies received by North American producers led to large import volumes of cheaper food, heavily subsidized, among these, corn, the main source of calories and essential food for Mexicans. As a result of these issues, millions of hectares were not competitive in international trade, which caused the migration of millions of peasants and migrant workers to cities, and to the United States. Food self-sufficiency has been lost in staple foods since Mexico imports 95% of the soy that is consumed, 58% of the rice, 49% of the wheat, 40% of the meat and 40% of the corn. The renegotiation of NAFTA may represent an opportunity to change the country's agricultural policy and promote a rural development strategy that contributes to reduce poverty in the rural population.