Defending food security in a free-market economy:: The gendered dimensions of restructuring in rural Mexico

Since 1988, Mexican agricultural policy has undergone significant revisions designed to further align the sector with a model of globally organized growth. This paper examines how maize-producing households in an indigenous community of Mexico's central highlands have negotiated major changes to agricultural policy. Despite strong disincentives to maize production, surface area planted with maize did not decrease. Although farmers adjusted their cash and labor investments in the crop and increased their participation in nonfarm livelihoods, they continued to plant maize. In exploring this community's determination to grow its own grain rather than purchase it on the global market, this paper highlights the links between food security and gender and emphasizes the gendered nature of social change. Furthermore, our Findings show that the feminization of agriculture is deepening in this community and taking on new dimensions.