International Day of Rural Women: Contributing to sustainable production in Jalisco

With the aim of recognizing the role of women in agriculture, food security, nutrition, land management, conservation, and management of natural resources, as well as in rural productive enterprises, we commemorate this Friday, October 15 the International Day of Rural Women.

For the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Development (Semadet), the implementation of techniques and processes that promote the conservation of biodiversity is one of its priority commitments and is aligned with the public policy instruments that have been developed at the state level and local level through the Intermunicipal Environmental Boards (JIMA) and the Trust for the Forest Development Program of the State of Jalisco (Fiprodefo).

Through Fiprodefo, nursery projects for forest species have been promoted for their use in reforestation, as well as for the implementation of integrated silvopastoral production systems, due to the nutritional contribution provided by their use as forage species for free-range cattle grazing. Among these experiences we find groups of women from the town of La Esperanza, in the municipality of Cabo Corrientes, as well as in La Cuesta and Texcalama, these in the municipality of Talpa de Allende, where agave maximiliana is also produced, a native of the region and special for the production of raicilla.

Similar experiences of groups of women working in the development of forest nurseries have also been carried out in the municipalities of Villa Purificación and Poncitlán, in the latter, through an organized group of women from the indigenous community of Mezcala.

With regard to the projects implemented through the Inter-municipal Boards, the one in the town of Los Mazos, in the municipality of Tuxpan, where the group “Campesinas en Progreso” was formed, stands out, based on the Sustainable Communities program of the Intermunicipal Board of the Environment for the Integral Management of the Coahuayana River Basin (JIRCO), who manages a community garden in which food of organic origin with high nutritional value is produced, taking advantage of the organic fraction of the waste generated in their homes for the production of vermicompost.

Currently, the group seeks to grow its production and commercialize its products, particularly vermicompost, to be used as a method of organic and sustainable fertilization for agricultural activities in the region.

As part of the Protected Natural Areas Program of the Intermunicipal Association for the Protection of the Environment and Sustainable Development of Lake Chapala (Aipromades), and with financing from Semadet, 60 women from the rural communities of San Juan Evangelista and San Lucas Evangelista, in the municipality of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, as well as Santa Cruz de La Soledad in Chapala, and San Miguel de La Paz in the municipality of Jamay, they worked for 4 months in the revegetation of the protected areas of Cerro Viejo-Chupinaya-Los Sabinos, Sierra Cóndiro-Canales, and Cerro San Miguel-Chiquihuitillo, through the Fukuoka method of natural agriculture, through which they made 70 thousand clay spheres with seeds selected from species such as guaje, guamúchil, palo dulce and tepehuaje, among others, for their dispersal and generation of shoots in the forests of these protected areas, while receiving training on environmental, health and gender equality issues.

With the support of the Intermunicipal Board of the Environment of the South Coast (JICOSUR), the Sociedad Cooperativa de Producción Las Marías, in the municipality of Casimiro Castillo, produces mojote or capomo coffee, which is considered a drink rich in nutrients by its high content of proteins, vitamins, and fibers. Las Marías, from the Community of Benito Juárez, are concerned about the conservation and restoration of their forest ecosystems, since they extract the wild fruits of the capomo tree in a sustainable way, using only those suitable to be transformed, and respecting those that do not meet the necessary characteristics for production, thus contributing to the conservation of the species.

In the municipality of San Miguel Cuautitlán de García Barragán, there is the San Miguel Field School, also in the territory of JICOSUR, where 15 women participate in training processes for the promotion of sustainable livestock, with practices that maintain and improve the productive activity, thus contributing to the well-being of producer families and animals, without causing damage to the environment.

In the northern region of the state, through the special program on forestry development that is implemented jointly by Semadet and the National Forestry Commission (Conafor), and with the collaboration of the Inter-municipal Board of the Environment for Comprehensive Management of the North Region (JINOR), the capacities of indigenous women of this region are developed, mainly in the municipalities of Mezquitic and Chimaltitán, where virtual forums, courses, and exhibitions have been held to boost production and promote the work carried out by these groups of women from the Wixárika and Tepehuana communities of the region.

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