La milpa: Maize farmers in Honduras

Abstract

According to studies: The milpa as an agricultural system possesses a little-studied rationality; its practices and strategies respond to a logic organized based on ecological conditions. The milpa is an agricultural system developed in the pre-Hispanic societies of Mesoamerica, and its practices have survived to this day thanks to the peasant population that cultivates maize and beans annually for family consumption and the domestic market.

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to unveil the maize production process as the main crop in the milpa system. To gather information, the techniques of in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and non-participant observation were employed, applying instruments in three communities with a peasant population dedicated to the cultivation of staple grains.

The results reveal that the studied peasants engage in subsistence agriculture in hillside areas. The production process is carried out manually, using traditional techniques and tools, which are somewhat inefficient, making agriculture an unprofitable activity. It is concluded that these economic practices, due to their logic and internal dynamics, are threatened by the dominant
economic model, which favors the importation of grains.