Chiapas State is one of the most important agrobiodiversity spots of the world. However, over several decades, local governments and companies have provided (often as a “gift”) conventional seeds and agrochemical packages to smallholder farmers. Just in four years of the last government, “Maíz Sustentable” program supplied 663,538 technological packages and one hybrid have been delivered to 165,884 producers on average per year, with an investment of 34 million USD dollars. This activity is dramatically reducing plant diversity with negative consequences on human and environmental health. Consequently, it is also distorting social organizations & local economy with negative impacts to smallholders’ livelihoods. The agricultural policies are ignoring the agrobiodiversity potential in the state, changing agricultural vocations from traditional to conventional farming. In contradiction, farmers keep using their seeds and knowledge to cultivate the traditional Milpa system

(mixed farming system composed at least by maize, beans and squashes); for them farming for food  sovereignty is the way to keep autonomy and local governance in place, generating local responses to cope with the uncertainty of the global world.

Desarrollo Alternativo e Investigación A.C. began by collecting 300 local seeds of maize and beans and launched a Participatory Seed Dissemination. This process increased local maize and beans yields by at least 10%. Using seed selection practices and farming diversification, Chiapas families adopted new soil management techniques and increased the number of species managed in the plots. The process happened in two phases; first, 220 farmers (from 20 municipalities in 5 indigenous regions) came together at a Diversity Seed Fair to select seeds for their own home trials. Through the experimentation process, farmers shared

results with others and formed the Red Maíz Criollo – a platform for strengthening local varieties and supply seeds all over the Chiapas State during the following years. The second phase expanded this process to include 11 new R&D organizations and train 75 champion farmers as Agrobiodiversity Pollinators. As a result, farmers across the region began forming relationships and working together. They stopped using herbicides and allowed

some non-crop species to begin growing. This change, combined with the increased variety of maize and beans, diversified the family diet and also gave families a feeling of autonomy as they drove their food production.