Sustainable Development Alternatives in a Mayan Community in Extreme Poverty in Yucatán, Mexico

This study aimed to build participatory rural development alternatives to improve living conditions in Maya communities in extreme poverty in vulnerable territories with karst soils and karst groundwater, high deforestation, and the use of toxic and carcinogenic agrochemicals in agriculture, under climate change scenery, using the Local Human Development framework. Self-managed processes were generated using participatory research tools to improve the living conditions of the Mayan community of San Pedro Chacabal, Mexico. The community has suffered for years from economic decline due to a lack of capacity-building programs and environmental contingencies such as hurricanes, tropical storms, and extreme droughts due to climate change. A semistructured interview was designed to collect socioeconomic information from the community, and a program of 14 participatory workshops with the community was implemented. The workshops included topics on agroecology, production of small species and backyard crops, conservation of water and its natural resources, cancer prevention in women due to chronic exposure to agrochemicals, prevention of Chagas disease in children, production of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), establishment of a citrus school plot, and participatory territorial planning. Backyard species such as egg laying birds, free-grazing Mayan hairless pigs (Sus scrofa), sheep, seeds for vegetable production, and citrus (Citrus sinensis) were supplied. The results demonstrated that it is possible to improve living conditions in rural Mayan communities in extreme poverty with the provision of small supports, community participation, combining sociocultural knowledge with technical knowledge through participatory workshops, with an ecosystem approach, generating the development of capabilities, environmental health and health promotion, ensuring food for their families, reducing anxiety and stress, and improving family well-being.