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Paper short abstract

This paper explores Yucatec Mayan engagement with agrobiodiversity conservation as an example of Indigenous food sovereignty movements which propose alternative food futures beyond the dualism of tradition and modernity.

Paper long abstract

Loss of plant genetic diversity is a pressing concern in view of food globalization today. In this context, the role of Indigenous communities in agrobiodiversity conservation warrants attention. Maya-speaking farmers in the Yucatan Peninsula continue to cultivate landraces of corn and other plants, drawing on ancestral seeds and knowledge which have been transmitted from generation to generation. Practicing the polyculture farming called milpa is a central means of subsistence food supply and as such, essential for maintaining local food sovereignty. However, there is an increasing tendency to turn away from it – especially among young generations. Apart from ecological, political and socioeconomic factors which have made livelihoods based on milpa increasingly difficult, the abandonment of farmwork should also be seen in the context of colonialist and capitalist ideologies. According to the prevalent narrative of progress, milpa way of living is devalued as a counterpart of modernity. While the continued practice of milpa agriculture is threatened this way, Maya-speaking farmers resist the pressure posed on the autochthonous foodway through a variety of actions. In their struggle for native maize, they engage a larger number of stakeholders beyond the local Indigenous communities and thus transcend polarizing binaries such as traditional versus modern, peasant versus cosmopolitan, Indigenous versus non-Indigenous, and subsistence economy versus market economy. This paper explores Yucatec Mayan engagement with agrobiodiversity conservation as an example of Indigenous food sovereignty movements which propose alternative food futures beyond the dualism of tradition and modernity.