Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Reverse leasing and power dynamics among blue agave farmers in western Mexico

  • Published:
Agriculture and Human Values Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We examine changing production relations in the Mexican tequila industry to explore the ways in which large industrial firms are using “reverse leasing arrangements,” a form of contract farming, to extend their control over small agave farmers. Under these arrangements, smallholders rent their parcels to contracting companies who bring in capital, machinery, labor, and other agricultural inputs. Smallholders do not have access to their land, nor do they make any of the management decisions. We analyze the factors that have led some producers to participate in reverse leasing arrangements, while allowing other producers to continue farming independently. In addition, we look at the ways in which farmers are responding to these new production relations and constraints and the strategies that they are using to regain control over the production process.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barham B., Clark M., Katz E., Schurman R. (1992). Nontraditional agricultural exports in Latin America. Latin American Research Review 27(2): 43–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowen, S., A. L. Durán Amaya, and P. Gerritsen (2004). “Análisis Cuantitativo del Agave en los Municipios Autlán, El Grullo, El Limón, Tonaya, y Tuxcacuesco (Quantiative Análisis of Agave Cultivation in the Municipalities of Autlán, El Grullo, El Limón, Tonaya, and Tuxcacuesco).” Working paper, University of Guadalajara-CUCSUR, Autlán, Mexico

  • Clapp R. A. (1994). The moral economy of the contract. In: Little P. D., Watts M. J. (eds.) Living under Contract: Contract Farming and Agrarian Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 78–94). Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins J. (1993). Gender, contracts, and wage work: Agricultural restructuring in Brazil’s Sao Francisco Valley. Development and Change 23: 53–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolan C. (2001). The ‹good wife’: Struggles over resources in the Kenyan horticultural sector. The Journal of Development Studies 37(3): 39–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DRBSM (Dirección de la Reserva de la Biosfera de la Sierra de Manantlán) and IMECBIO (Instituto Manantlán de Ecología y Conservación de la Biodiversidad) (2001). “Iniciativa Local para la Gestión de la Cuenca Baja del Río Ayuquila (Local Initiative for the Management of the Lower Watershed of the Ayuquila River).” Working paper, DRBSM and IMECBIO, Autlán, Mexico

  • Eaton C. and A. W. Shepherd (2001). Contract Farming: Partnerships for Growth. FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin 145. Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

  • Echánove F., Steffen C. (2005). Agribusiness and farmers in Mexico: The importance of contractual relations. The Geographical Journal 171(2): 166–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerritsen, P. (2002). Diversity at Stake. A Farmers’ Perspective on Biodiversity and Conservation in Western Mexico. Wageningen Studies on Heterogeneity and Relocalisation 4. Wageningen, The Netherlands: Wageningen University

  • González, M. A. (2002). Blue Agave Producers in the Tequila Agro-Industry in Jalisco, Mexico: The Beginning of Production Alliances in the Context of the End of Land Reform. PhD dissertation. School of Geography, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

  • Goodman D., Sorj B., Wilkinson J. (1987). From Farming to Biotechnology: A Theory of Agro-Industrial Development. Oxford, United Kingdom: Basil Blackwell

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez García, O. (2005). Cuantificación de la Erosión Hídrica del Suelo en el Cultivo de Agave Azul (Agave tequilana Weber Var. Azul), Municipio de Autlán, Jalisco, Mexico. BS thesis, Department of Natural and Agricultural Resource Management, University of Guadalajara-CUCSUR, Autlán, Mexico

  • Jansen K., S. Vellema (eds.) (2004). Agribusiness and Society: Corporate Responses to Environmentalism, Market Opportunities and Public Regulation. London, UK: Zed Books

    Google Scholar 

  • Lastarria-Cornhiel, S. and J. Melmed-Sanjak (1999). “Land Tenancy in Asia, Africa, and Latin America: A Look to the Past and a View to the Future.” Working paper, Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

  • Lewis J. (2002). Agrarian change and privatization of ejido land in northern Mexico. Journal of Agrarian Change 2(3): 401–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Limón, E. M. (2000). Tequila: The Spirit of Mexico. New York, New York: Abbeville Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Little P. D., M. J. Watts (1994). Introduction. In P. D. Little, M. J. Watts (eds.) Living under Contract: Contract Farming and Agrarian Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 3–18). Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Llamas Navarro J. (1999). La política del agave (The politics of agave). Estudios Agrarios 13: 9–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Luna Zamora R. (1991). La Historia del Tequila, de sus Regiones y sus Hombres (The History of Tequila, of its Regions and its People. Mexico City, Mexico: Conaculta

    Google Scholar 

  • Macías Macías A. (2001). El cluster en la industria del tequila en Jalisco, Mexico (The cluster in the tequila industry in Jalisco, Mexico). Agroalimentaria 13: 57–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Magdoff F., J. B. Foster, F. H. Buttel (2000). Hungry for Profit: The Agribusiness Threat to Farmers, Food, and the Environment. New York, New York: Monthly Review Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Mannon S. (2005). Risk takers, risk makers: Small farmers and non-traditional agro-exports in Kenya and Costa Rica. Human Organization 64(1): 16–27

    Google Scholar 

  • María Murià, J. (1997). A Drink Named Tequila. Guadalajara, Mexico: Editorial Agata

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez Rivera, L. M, L. I. Iñiguez, C. P. García, S. C. Martínez, L. E. Rivera, E. G. Real, R. E. Carrillo García, C. P. Martínez, A.␣S. Magallanes, R. Cuevas, F. S. Michel, Á. Aguirre, J. L. Olguín, O. Cardenas, M. Ramírez, J. R. Adame, P. Gerritsen, and A. Moreno (2003). “Impacto ambiental, social, y económico del cultivo del agave azul (Agave tequilana Weber) en el municipio de Tonaya, Jalisco (Environmental, social, and economic impact of the cultivation of blue agave (Agave tequilana Weber) in the municipality of Tonaya, Jalisco).” Working paper, University of Guadalajara-CUCSUR, AutlÁn, Mexico

  • Morvaridi B. (1995). Contract farming and environmental risk: The case of Cyprus. Journal of Peasant Studies 23(1): 30–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulder, A. (1999). Resource Access and Farming Practices in the Ejido of Ayuquila, Jalisco. MS thesis. Department of Sociology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

  • Nava López, A. and J. O. Medina Rocha (2005). Evaluación del Impacto Económico del Cultivo de Agave (Agave angustifolia Haw y Agave tequilana Weber) dentro del Contexto Viabilidad-Sustentable en el Municipio de Tonaya, Jalisco (Evaluation of the Economic Impact of the Cultivation of Agave (Agave angustifolia Haw and Agave tequilaza Weber), from the Perspective of Sustainability and Viability, in the Municipality of Tonaya, Jalisco). BS thesis. Department of Natural and Agricultural Resource Management, University of Guadalajara-CUCSUR, Autlán, Mexico

  • Ortiz Gómez, M. G. (2001). El Impacto del PROCAMPO en las Estrategias Campesinas en la Comunidad Indígena de Cuzalapa, Municipio de Cuatitlán, Jalisco (The Impact of PROCAMPO on Farmers’ Strategies in the Indigenous Community of Cuzalapa, in the Municipality of Cuatitlán, Jalisco). BA thesis. Department of Sociology, University of Guadalajara-CUCSH, Guadalajara, Mexico

  • Oxfam International (2003). “Dumping Without Borders: How U.S. Agricultural Policies Are Destroying the Livelihoods of Mexican Corn Farmers.” Working paper, Oxfam International, Washington, D.C

  • Portner, B. (2005). Land Use Strategies of Migrant and Non-Migrant Households in Western Mexico. MA thesis. Department of Geography, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland

  • Pretty, J. (1995). Regenerating Agriculture: Policies and Practice for Sustainability and Self-Reliance. London, United Kingdom: Earthscan Publications Limited

    Google Scholar 

  • Raynolds L. T. (2000). Negotiating contract farming in the Dominican Republic. Human Organization 59(4): 441–451

    Google Scholar 

  • SAGARPA (Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca, y Alimentación) (2004). Principales productos por municipio (Principal products by municipality). Retrieved from http://www.oeidrusjalisco.org on April 23, 2006

  • SAGARPA (Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca, y Alimentación) (2005). Inventario General y Resultados del Muestreo de las Cuatro Principales Enfermedades del Agave Tequilana Weber Variedad Azul, Dentro del Territorio Protegida por la Denominación de Origen Tequila (General Inventory and Results of the Sampling of the Four Principal Diseases of Agave Tequilaza Weber, Blue Variety, within the Territory Protected by the Denomination of Origin of Tequila). Guadalajara, Mexico: SAGARPA

  • Singh S. (2002). Contracting out solutions: Political economy of contract farming in the Indian Punjab. World Development 30(9): 1621–1638

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torres, G. (1998). The agave war: Toward an agenda for the post-NAFTA ejido. In R. Snyder, G. Torres (eds.), The Future Role of the Ejido in Rural Mexico (pp. 73–100). La Jolla, California: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • USAID (United States Agency for International Development) (1994). “Harvest of Progress: A Quiet Revolution in Latin American and Caribbean Agriculture.” Working paper, USAID, Washington, D.C

  • Valenzuela Zapata, A. G. (2005). Indicaciones Geográficas y Sustentabilidad: El Caso del Tequila (Geographical Indications and Sustainability: The Case of Tequila). PhD thesis. Department of Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Mexico

  • Valenzuela Zapata A. G., G. P. Nabhan (2003). Tequila!: A Natural and Cultural History. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Ploeg, J. D. (1999). De Virtuele Boer (The Virtual Farmer). Assen, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum Publishers

    Google Scholar 

  • Vellema, S. (2002). Making Contract Farming Work? Society and Technology in Philippine Transnational Agribusiness. Maastricht, The Netherlands: Shaker Publishing

    Google Scholar 

  • Warman, A. (2001). El Campo Mexicano en el Siglo XX (The Mexican Countryside in the Twentieth Century). Mexico City, Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica

    Google Scholar 

  • Watts, M. J. (1994). Life under contract: Contract farming, Agrarian restructuring, and flexible accumulation. In P. D. Little, M. J. Watts (eds.), Living under Contract: Contract Farming and Agrarian Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 21–77). Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolf S., B. Hueth, E. Ligon (2001). Policing mechanisms in agricultural contracts. Rural Sociology 66(3): 359–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams S., R. Karen (1985). Agribusiness and the Small-Scale Farmer – A Dynamic Partnership for Development. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Wise, T. (2004). “The Paradox of Agricultural Subsidies: Measurement Issues, Agricultural Dumping, and Policy Reform.” Working paper, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts

  • Zamora Durán, J. and E. F. Preciado (2003). Análisis Preliminar de la Expansión del Cultivo de Agave Azul (Agave Tequilana Weber) en los Municipios de Autlán de Navarro y Tuxcacuesco, Jalisco (Preliminary Análisis of the Expansion of Cultivation of Blue Agave (Agave Tequilaza Weber) in the Municipalities of Autlán de Navarro and Tuxcacuesco, Jalisco). BS thesis, Department of Natural and Agricultural Resource Management, University of Guadalajara-CUCSUR, Autlán, Mexico

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Rural Sociology and Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Sarah Bowen

  2. Manantlán Institute for Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation, South Coast University Centre, University of Guadalajara, Autlán, Jalisco, Mexico

    Peter R. W. Gerritsen

Authors
  1. Sarah Bowen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter R. W. Gerritsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah Bowen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bowen, S., Gerritsen, P.R.W. Reverse leasing and power dynamics among blue agave farmers in western Mexico. Agric Hum Values 24, 473–488 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-007-9088-7

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-007-9088-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation