Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Gender, ethnicity, and economic status in plant management: Uncultivated edible plants among the Nahuas and Popolucas of Veracruz, Mexico

  • Published:
Agriculture and Human Values Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Uncultivated plants are an important part of agricultural systems and play a key role in the survival of rural marginalized groups such as women, children, and the poor. Drawing on the gender, environment, and development literature and on the notion of women’s social location, this paper examines the ways in which gender, ethnicity, and economic status determine women’s roles in uncultivated plant management in Ixhuapan and Ocozotepec, two indigenous communities of Veracruz, Mexico. The first is inhabited by Nahua and the second by Popoluca peoples. Information was gathered through group and individual interviews and a food frequency survey. Results show that the gender ideology prevailing in each community, resulting from distinct ethnic affiliations and economic contexts, shapes women’s plant management. In Ixhuapan, Nahua women are used to leaving their community to generate income, while in Ocozotepec men are considered the main breadwinners and are the mediators between Popoluca households and the larger society. Nahua women gather quelites at the cornfields more often than their men, and more often than their female counterparts in Ocozotepec. They also manage and sell plants from their homegardens at higher percentages than Popoluca women. However, women in both communities use intensely the plants of their homegardens and play a key role in biodiversity conservation and cultural permanence.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

SSM:

Sierra de Santa Marta

References

  • Alcorn B. J. (1993). Los procesos como recursos: la ideología agrícola tradicional del manejo de los recursos entre los boras y huastecos y sus implicaciones para la investigación. In: E. Leff, J. Carabias (eds.), Cultura y manejo sustentable de los recursos naturales, Vol. 2 (pp. 329–365). México: UNAM, Editorial Porrúa

    Google Scholar 

  • Appleton H. E., C. L. M. Hill (1994). Gender and indigenous knowledge in various organizations. Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor 2(3): 8–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Arias R. E. (1999). Panorámica actual. In A. Delgado, E. Arias (eds.), Recetario indígena del sur de Veracruz (nahua, zoque-popoluca y zapoteco) (pp. 31–38). México: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes

    Google Scholar 

  • Basurto P. F., M. A. Martínez, G. Villalobos (1998). Los quelites de la Sierra Norte de Puebla, México: inventario y formas de preparación Boletín de la Sociedad Botánica de México 62: 49–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Boege S. E. (1988). Los mazatecos ante la nación: contradicciones de la identidad étnica en el México actual. Mexico: Siglo XXI eds

    Google Scholar 

  • Braidotti Rosi, E. Charkiewicz, S. Hausler, S. Wirninga (1997). Women, the environment and sustainable development. In N. Visvanathan, L. Duggan, L. Nisonoff, N. Wiegerma (eds.), The Women, Gender and Development Reader (pp. 54–61). London, UK: Zed Books

    Google Scholar 

  • Bye R. A. Jr. (1993). The role of humans in the diversification of plants in Mexico. In: T. P. Ramannorthy, R. Bye, A. Lot, J. Fa (eds.), Biological Diversity of Mexico: Origins and Distribution (pp. 707–731). New York, NY: Oxford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Bye R. A. Jr. (2000). Quelites – Ethnoecology of edible greens – past, present and future. In: P. Minnis (eds.), Ethnobotany (pp. 197–213). Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Casas A., M. C. Vázquez, J. L. Viveros, J. Caballero (1996). Plant management among the Nahua and the Mixtec in the Balsas river basin, Mexico: An ethnobotanical approach to the study of plant domestication. Human Ecology 24(4): 455–478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casas A., J.L. Viveros, E. Katz, J. Caballero (1987). Las plantas en la alimentación mixteca: una aproximación etnobotánica América Indígena 47(2): 317–343

    Google Scholar 

  • Castro R. (1996). En busca del significado: supuestos alcances y limitaciones del análisis cualitativo. In: I. Sasz, S. Lerner (eds.), Para comprender la subjetividad (pp. 57–85). México: El Colegio de México

    Google Scholar 

  • Chávez M. M. C. (1998). Etnobotánica de San Jerónimo Boncheté, México. Mexico: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniggelis E. (2003). Women and ‹wild’ foods: Nutrition and household security among Rai and Serpa forager-farmers in Eastern Nepal. In: P. L. Howard (ed.), Women and Plants. Gender Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation (pp. 83–97). London, UK: Zed Books and IDRC

    Google Scholar 

  • Delgado A. (1999). Treinta siglos de gastronomía sureña. In A. Delgado, E. Arias (eds.), Recetario indígena del sur de Veracruz (nahua, zoque-popoluca y zapoteco) (pp. 9–30). Mexico: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes

    Google Scholar 

  • Domínguez A. S. (1999). La milpa en Muxipip. México: Dirección General de Culturas Populares

    Google Scholar 

  • Domínguez, G. U. (nd). Resultados de las entrevistas realizadas a mujeres y hombres de Ixhuapan y Ocozotepec sobre frutos silvestres. Unpublished paper

  • Ertug F. (2003). Gendering the tradition of plant gathering in Central Anatolia (Turkey). In: P. L. Howard (ed.), Women and Plants. Gender Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation (pp. 183–196). London, UK: Zed Books and IDRC

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández M. E. (1994). Gender and indigenous knowledge. Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor 2(3): 6–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Godínez G. L., V. Vázquez (2003). Haciendo la vida: relaciones ambientales y de género en torno a la cacería en una comunidad indígena del sureste veracruzano La Ventana 2(17): 303–349

    Google Scholar 

  • Goebel A. (2003). Gender and entitlements in the Zimbabwean woodlands: A case study of resettlement. In P. L. Howard (ed.), Women and Plants. Gender Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation (pp. 115–129). London, UK: Zed Books and IDRC

    Google Scholar 

  • González, R. M. C. (1989). Estudio etnobotánico de plantas comestibles de cuatro ejidos zoque popoluca de la Sierra de Santa Marta, Veracruz. Mexico: Bachelor Thesis in Biology, Universidad Veracruzana

  • Greenberg L. S. Z. (2003). Women in the garden and kitchen: The role of cuisine in the conservation of traditional house lot crops among Yucatec Mayan immigrants. In: P. L. Howard (ed.), Women and Plants. Gender Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation (pp. 51–65). London, UK: Zed Books and IDRC

    Google Scholar 

  • Hapke H. (2001). Gender, work and household survival in South Indian fishing communities: A preliminary analysis. The Professional Geographer 53(3): 313–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann S. (2003). Arawakan women and the erosion of traditional food production in Amazonas Venezuela. In: P. L. Howard (ed.), Women and Plants. Gender Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation (pp. 258–272). London, UK: Zed Books and IDRC

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard P. L. (2003). Women and the plant world: An exploration. In: P. L. Howard (eds.), Women and Plants. Gender Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation (pp. 1–48). London, UK: Zed Books and IDRC

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazos, E. and L. Paré (2000). Miradas indígenas sobre una naturaleza entristecida. Percepciones del deterioro ambiental entre los nahuas de Veracruz. Mexico: Plaza & Valdés

  • Leach M., S. Joekes, C. Green (1995). Editorial: Gender relations and environmental change. International Development Studies Bulletin 26(1): 1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall F. (2001). Agriculture and use of wild and weedy greens by the Piik ap Oom Okiek of Kenya Economic Botany 55(1): 32–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohanty C. (1997). Under western eyes. Feminist scholarship and colonial discourses. In: N. Visvanathan, L. Duggan, L. Nisonoff, N. Wiegerma (eds.), The Women, Gender and Development Reader (pp. 79–86). London, UK: Zed Books

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohanty C. (2003). Under western eyes revisited: Feminist solidarity through anticapitalist struggles Signs 28(2): 499–535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montes, E. M. (2004). Alimentación en dos comunidades de la Sierra de Santa Marta, Veracruz. Mexico: Master Thesis in Rural Development, Colegio de Postgraduados

  • Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares (2002). El maíz, fundamento de la cultura popular mexicana. Mexico: Dirección General de Culturas Populares e Indígenas

    Google Scholar 

  • Paré L., E. Velázquez, R. Gutiérrez (1993). La ganadería en la Sierra de Santa Marta: una primera aproximación. In N. Barrera, H. Rodríguez (eds.), Desarrollo y medio ambiente en Veracruz. Impactos económicos, ecológicos y culturales de la ganadería en Veracruz (pp. 129–165). Mexico: Fundación Friedrich Ebert

    Google Scholar 

  • Paré L., E. Velázquez, R. Gutiérrez, F. Ramírez, á. Hernández, M. P. Lozada, H. Perales, J. L. Blanco (1997). La Reserva Especial de la Biosfera Sierra de Santa Marta, Veracruz: diagnóstico y perspectiva. Mexico: UNAM

    Google Scholar 

  • Perales, H. (1992). El autoconsumo en la agricultura de los popolucas de Soteapan, Veracruz. Mexico: Master Thesis in Botany, Colegio de Postgraduados

  • Pieroni A. (2003). Wild plants in Arberesh women in Lucania, Southern Italy. In: P. L. Howard (ed.), Women and Plants. Gender Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation (pp. 66–82). London, UK: Zed Books and IDRC

    Google Scholar 

  • Price L. L. (1997). Wild plant food in agricultural environments: a study of occurrence, management and gathering rights in Northeast Thailand. Human Organization 56(2): 209–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Price L. L. (2003). Farm women’s rights and roles in wild plant food gathering and management in North-East Thailand. In P. L. Howard (ed.), Women and Plants. Gender Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation (pp. 101–114). London, UK: Zed Books and IDRC

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramírez, R. F. (1999). Flora y vegetación de la Sierra de Santa Marta, Veracruz. Mexico: Bachelor Thesis in Biology, UNAM

  • Rico, M. N. (1997). Género, medio ambiente y sustentabilidad del desarrollo. Paper Presented at the 7th Regional Conference on the Integration of Women into Latin American Social and Economic Development, November 19–21, 1997, Santiago, Chile

  • Robichaux D. (2005). Principios patrilineales en un sistema bilateral de parentesco: residencia, herencia y el sistema familiar mesoamericano. In D. Robichaux (ed.), Familia y parentesco en México y Centroamérica. Unas miradas antropológicas (pp. 167–272). México: Universidad Iberoamericana

    Google Scholar 

  • Rocheleau D., B. Thomas-Slayter, E. Wangari (1996). Gender and environment. A feminist political ecology perspective. In: D. Rocheleau, B. Thomas-Slayter, E. Wangari (eds.), Feminist Political Ecology. Global Issues and Local Experiences (pp. 3–23). London, UK: Routledge

    Google Scholar 

  • Rojas M. (1999). A Guide to Working with Community-Based Conservation with a Gender Focus. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida

    Google Scholar 

  • Sachs C. (1996). Gendered Fields. Rural Women, Agriculture and Environment. Boulder, CO: Westview Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Schminck M. (1999). Conceptual Framework for Gender and Community-Based Conservation. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoones I., M. Melnyk, J. N. Pretty (1992). The Hidden Harvest: Wild Foods and Agricultural Systems. A Literature Review and Annotated Bibliography. London, UK: International Institute for Environment and Development

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner N. (2003). ‹Passing the news’: Women’s work, traditional knowledge and plant resource management in indigenous societies of North-Western North America. In: P. L. Howard (ed.), Women and Plants. Gender Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation (pp. 133–149). London, UK: Zed Books and IDRC

    Google Scholar 

  • Vázquez G. V. (2002). ¿Quién cosecha lo sembrado? Relaciones de género en un área natural protegida mexicana. Mexico: Plaza & Valdés editores

    Google Scholar 

  • Velázquez H. E. (2000). Ganadería y poder político en la Sierra Santa Marta. In L. Eric, E. Velázquez (eds.), El sotavento veracruzano. Procesos sociales y dinámicas territoriales (pp. 111–128). Mexico: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social

    Google Scholar 

  • Velázquez H. E. (1996). Cambios en el uso del suelo y pérdida de la biodiversidad en el siglo XX en la Sierra de Santa Marta. In R. Cervigni, F. Ramírez (eds.), Desarrollo sustentable y conservación de la biodiversidad: un estudio de caso en la Sierra de Santa Marta, Veracruz (pp. 28–52). Mexico: Proyecto Sierra de Santa Marta, Global Environment Facility & Centro Internacional para el Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo

    Google Scholar 

  • Velázquez H. E., F. Ramírez. (1995). Usos económicos de la selva de montaña en una Reserva de la Biosfera. In E. Boege, H. García, P. Gerez (eds.), Alternativas al manejo de laderas en Veracruz (pp. 203–222). Mexico: SEMARNAP/FES

    Google Scholar 

  • Villa, K. J. A. (1991). Las plantas utilizadas en forma tradicional en la alimentación en una comunidad nahua del este del estado de Hidalgo. Mexico: Bachelor Thesis in Biology, UNAM

  • Wilson M. (2003). Exchange, patriarchy and status: Women’s homegardens in Bangladesh. In: P. L. Howard (ed.), Women and Plants. Gender Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation (pp. 211–225). London, UK: Zed Books and IDRC

    Google Scholar 

  • Zavella P. (1991). Mujeres in factories. Race and class perspectives on women, work and family. In: M. Di Leonardo (eds.), Gender at the Crossroads of Knowledge (pp. 312–336). Berkeley, California: University of California Press

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Scientific names were provided by Elisa Martínez López and María de Lourdes Godínez Guevara, who also collaborated in the group interviews. Margarita Montes Estrada and Ana Silvia Ortiz Gómez collected the data of food frequencies in the field. The research project was financed by the International Development Research Centre (Canada) and the National Science and Technology Council (CONACYT) of Mexico.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rural Development, Colegio de Postgraduados en Ciencias Agrícolas, Texcoco, Edomex, Mexico

    Veronica Vazquez-Garcia

  2. Desarrollo Rural, Carretera Federal México-Texcoco Km. 36.5, Montecillo, Edomex, 56230, Mexico

    Veronica Vazquez-Garcia

Authors
  1. Veronica Vazquez-Garcia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Veronica Vazquez-Garcia.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Vazquez-Garcia, V. Gender, ethnicity, and economic status in plant management: Uncultivated edible plants among the Nahuas and Popolucas of Veracruz, Mexico. Agric Hum Values 25, 65–77 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-007-9093-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-007-9093-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation