Researchers from the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) met with Mexico’s secretary of agriculture and rural development, Julio Berdegué Sacristán, on Friday, September 5, in Tlaxcala, Mexico. The researchers were invited to discuss potential collaboration to promote the commercialization of smallholder farmers in Mexico through the creation of farmer producer organizations (FPOs).

“Farmer producer organizations hold tremendous potential to improve the livelihoods of Mexico’s smallholders,” TCI Director Prabhu Pingali said. “We look forward to exploring opportunities to work with the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development to advance the promotion of FPOs in Mexico.”

After meeting with Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development Julio Berdegué Sacristán, TCI researchers visited with representatives from Mexican FPOs. (Photo by Leslie Verteramo Chiu/TCI)

Berdegué Sacristán was interested in working with TCI based on the institute’s prior work on FPOs in India. For more than five years, TCI has conducted research aimed at improving the promotion of successful FPOs in India. Notably, the institute created the FPO Platform for India, a comprehensive database of Indian FPOs and social networking tool that empowers FPOs to market themselves and interact with potential business partners and other service providers.

“I have been following the work of TCI on FPOs in India, and I believe that Mexican FPOs can benefit from the experiences of Indian FPOs and the TCI projects supporting them,” Berdegué Sacristán said.

While in Mexico, TCI researchers met with FPO representatives from Tlaxcala, Puebla and Morelos. They visited FPOs that grow native corn varietals and produce tostadas (toasted tortillas) and pinole (ground corn with spices used as a drink) for the local market. The researchers also met with a group of avocado producers that sell to a supermarket chain, and a tomato producer group that sells on the local market. Some of the FPOs visited originated from field schools, while others emerged organically without external support.

Worldwide, smallholders with less than 2 hectares of land account for 80% of farms and produce 35% of the world’s food. In Mexico, an estimated two-thirds of farmers are smallholders. Because of their small size, smallholders are at a disadvantage when accessing markets, credit, and agricultural inputs like seeds. By joining together in FPOs, farmers can reduce costs and improve market access, helping to drive higher agricultural productivity, enhanced food security and livelihood development.

Featured image: TCI Director Prabhu Pingali (center left), Assistant Director Mathew Abraham (center right) and research economist Leslie Verteramo Chiu (far right) met with Mexico’s secretary of agriculture and rural development, Julio Berdegué Sacristán (far left), in Tlaxcala, Mexico. (Photo provided)