Rural development policy in Mexico and institutional change 2000-2006

This study analyses rural public policies with emphasis in the formal relationship between the State and the rural actors. During the last few decades a series of transformations in the primary sector in Mexican public policy has taken place; many of them have been suggested by international development agencies. In this respect, institutional changes such as the Ley de desarollo rural sustentable (Law for sustainable rural development) and the Acuerdo Nacional para el Campo (National Agreement for the countryside) have elements that demonstrate the influence of the current model of rural development based on neo-liberal principles.