Water Matters
July 2008
Banner photo: R.Maro/version-foto.de
Saving Rain
A profile of Jesús León Santos, a farmer in the Mixteca region of Mexico who is leading an effort to rejuvenate the land through traditional Mixteca practices.
Jesús León Santos in his fields
[Will Parrinello and Jim Iacona]
The Mixteca highlands in the State of Oaxaca is a parched region with some of the most degraded land in Mexico. An estimated average of five meters of soil has been eroded since the time of the Spanish conquest, according to UN data. Unable to make a living, many farmers have abandoned the land and their traditions and migrated to the cities and to the U.S.A. But in recent years a transformation has been occurring. Using ancient indigenous agricultural practices, local farmer Jesús León Santos is leading a land renewal and economic development program that is rejuvenating this barren area into rich, arable land.
With his organization, the Center for Integral Small Farmer Development in the Mixteca (CEDICAM), a democratic, farmer-led local environmental organization, León has united the area's small farmers. Together, they have planted more than 1 million native trees, mostly ocote pines, built hundreds of miles of ditches to retain rainwater and prevent soil from eroding, and adapted traditional Mixteca indigenous practices to restore the regional ecosystem. Efforts are paying off as barren hillsides turn green again and aquifers are recharged. The high rate of migration out of the region has slowed as indigenous farming families find they are able to make a living at home.
Traditional Practices
The revival of pre-Hispanic practices to capture rainfall and prevent erosion of the hillsides has taken time and a change in attitudes. "This is work that we have developed over many years in response to degradation of our ecology, emigration and youth leaving the area," says León. "We now have good results to show, but there was a lot of opposition at first. Many people laughed at us." Working with communities, León has helped identify ancient terraced agricultural systems in the region, many in ruins, and rebuilt the barriers using stones from the fields. The resulting flattened areas impede erosion and enhance agricultural production.
Constructing contour ditches has been another simple and effective solution. Five kilometers of ditches have been shown to capture 1.8 million liters of water after each heavy rain. The retained water seeps into the soil, replenishing the aquifers below. Previously, an estimated 80 percent of rainfall flowed off the land, causing erosion and lowered water tables. León and CEDICAM have worked with farmers throughout the region to build hundreds of kilometers of contour ditches.
Mixtec king and warlord Eight Deer Jaguar Claw (right) meeting with Four Jaguar, in a depiction from the pre-Columbian Codex Zouche-Nuttall
In the Mixtec communities there are many traditional forms of mutual giving, and common work is one of them. While different families farm specific areas, the land is communally owned, and water resources such as springs are freely usable by all.
León comments, "We've seen springs coming back, with stronger and faster flows. The animal population has returned and is flourishing too. One of my greatest satisfactions is to be able to say, 'I planted that tree,' and see other species coming back to life--collaborating with nature. It is my passion to live like this. When I was little, it was practically impossible to hear the birds singing because there were no trees. Now you can hear them singing all day."
León and CEDICAM are now working with more than 1,500 small farmers in 12 communities. They have reforested more than 1,000 hectares; sustainable agriculture programs have led to the conservation of some 2,000 hectares; and they have protected 5,000 hectares with stone terraces and walls, leading to a 50-percent increase in agricultural production. Where only 25 to 30 percent of the land was arable, communities now farm upwards of 80 percent of the land. The contour ditches have led to a 50- to 100-percent increase in spring levels.
Farmers throughout the area have also converted from industrial fertilizers and pesticides to natural compost fertilizers and native seed varieties, and are returning to local foods and a traditional indigenous diet. CEDICAM has reintroduced the traditional milpa, a plot where corn, climbing beans and squash grow together. This pre-Hispanic farming practice fixes nutrients in the soil and creates natural barriers to pests and disease.
"We're not campesinos because we are too ignorant to do anything else! We are campesinos because it is our vocation, an important vocation, one of the most important in the world since we all depend on food. And we have thousands of years of knowledge about the land that has been passed on to us as our heritage by our ancestors."
León further explains, "Every family in the village has varieties of corn that have been passed down in their family for generations. In one village we use dozens of distinct but related varieties of corn. In my family, we plant three varieties. That way, no matter what type of weather we have, one or the other will survive." Some corn varieties are still planted using the coa, a long wooden stick with a sharp, metal-tipped point, so the seed is placed deep in the ground during the dry season and will grow for up to four months without rain.
A Precious Resource
Despite increases in water availability, it is still a precious commodity. Each spring is carefully cared for. "One trough is for animals' use and the other for human use, where we can fill buckets and water jars. We don't have much water. But we don't need much, because we don't have a sewage system." León has fought against putting a sewer system into the municipal center of Santiago Tilantongo. "Everyone is accusing me of being anti-progress. But the system will be very expensive and will serve only the 1 percent of the population that lives close enough to be connected. Furthermore, if the treatment facilities for the waste are like those in a couple of neighboring villages, within a few years they will cease to function, causing an accumulation of waste. And this would use an additional 10,000 liters of water a day that we don't have. How stupid to foul the little pure water we have just to get rid of our human waste. We need better solutions, like the ecological toilets we are building here in the communities."
Cultural Legacy
The Mixtec have their own, rich history and literature. They have 1,000 years of written history, recorded in their ancient codices--beautifully written and drawn books from between 600 and 1600 CE. León explains, "This history is written in hieroglyphics, symbols. But unfortunately we lost all our culture and traditional religion during the Spanish conquest. They destroyed our sculptures and codices, including ones relating to traditional medicines, religion and land.
"Just a few ceremonies remain. The struggle now is not only to recuperate the environment, but to remember our history and culture."
Asked if he has a message for people reading about his work, he adds, "It is wrong to think we own the Earth. We are part of Earth, part of nature. We have done so much damage. We are fouling and dirtying so much water! We have to think about future generations--they will encounter a world with horrible water. There are people coming after us, and we must consider them. We must never turn water into a marketable good, to be bought or sold.
"We need to make people think about what it means to have water in a city, for example--how did it get to their home? How much did it cost, and what happens to it when it leaves the house? If we know these things, we can teach them to others. We should remember that there are places on this Earth that have no water."
Jesús León Santos is a winner of the 2008 Goldman Environmental Prize. His work is described in The Other Game by Phil Dahl-Bredine and Stephen Hicken, published by Orbis Books.
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