Cooperative Organization and Responses to Environmental Change in two Communities in Tabasco, Mexico

Rural inhabitants in many parts of the world face multiple stressors associated with environmental change, yet local governments often do not promote viable or robust ways for community members to adapt to such stressors. This... [ view full abstract ]

Rural inhabitants in many parts of the world face multiple stressors associated with environmental change, yet local governments often do not promote viable or robust ways for community members to adapt to such stressors. This research draws on qualitative interview data to examine current public perceptions of environmental change and cooperative community organizations’ responses to them in two small, rural ejido (commonly-managed) communities in Tabasco State, Mexico. We compare the successful strategies in a local agricultural cooperative in the Teapa region to another community in the Emiliano Zapata region, where a fishing association has been unable to use the organization to benefit the greater public, rather than just its members. In Teapa people are bound and isolated by the surrounding mountains, making them almost solely reliable on the natural resources to sustain their livelihoods. The El Malayo cooperative has found ways to conserve natural environmental systems through agroforestry, which secures the ecosystem services and enables them to rely on the agricultural commodities they are able to grow there. Residents were able to reimagine how they make a living and provide for their families by starting a cooperative, which gives them access to regional and international markets for their products and distributes risk throughout the community. They make the most of common property management (via ejido common land) and preservation of common pool resources. In contrast, in Emiliano Zapata, extreme weather events and invasive fish species in the river and a lack of arable land have forced people to abandon fishing and find alternative livelihoods through migration to other locations or work in proximate urban areas. The River Fishermen’s Association was used by the most powerful fishermen to capture the market and edge out competitors, resulting in conflict within the community. People have lost hope in their ability to depend on the environment in the face of dwindling natural resources and a polluted river. We compare the potential resilience and vulnerabilities in the socioecological systems in both regions and suggest ways that such cooperative organizations’ strategies may be employed by members of rural communities in other countries where global environmental change is negatively impacting people’s livelihoods.