Territorial Potential as A Factor of Development: A Model for the Management of the Rural Milieu in Mexico
Abstract
Towards the problems faced by the rural milieu in the last decade, various means and procedures have been promoted in order to solve the situation. Nevertheless, institutional contributions have been limited and not too favorable where a better development in rural are as is concerned. Notwithstanding, thee efforts have been acknowledged as examples for the re -orientation of the government policy aimed at the rural sector. The objective of the present work is demonstrate that the development potential and the public prog rams that could have a possible impact, require methodological proposals that are sensitive vis à vis the various elements of the productive and social structure. This proposals should also be sensitive to the problems that hinder the betterment of the living conditions of the rural population and the promotion of territorial development. In order to try to solve these problems, we use a socio -spatial interaction model that shows the characteristics of the local activities and resources. The model also show s the role played by public, social and private actions as integrating factors in the development of the territories chosen for the actions in question.
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Introduction
In Mexico, a large number of territories have been undergoing a crisis for at least thirty years. This crisis has brought about an economical marginalization and social exclusion phenomenon that is progressively getting worse. Field workers families represent a fourth of the national population and poverty afflicts more than 60% of them. Two out of each three inhabitants of the rural sector live in areas of high marginalization. These people do not have basic water, sewage and electric energy services, and they lack access to elementary education and health services. Besides, the sustainability of economical activities is less than promising. We can frequently see that the economic development strategies privilege the role of the cities, due to the fact that the geographical distribution of the rural settlements is quite disperse (67.8 of the settlements have less than 50 inhabitants). Rural areas have also fallen behind in issues pertaining to basic and productive infrastructure. Among other consequences, the preceding situation results in people increasingly leaving the territories. This unchains a high migration pattern of the economically active population, and leads to scarce capitalization inside the communities. In this context of asymmetries between players and places, the promotion of a participative local development stemming from the implementation of an economic model based on the endogenous potentials of the territories themselves, has become an issue that cannot be delayed any further.
The crisis of the Mexican rural milieu is the result of the trade liberalization model, where the administrations bet on economic growth postponing public policies of a social nature focused on solidarity, thus putting the welfare of the population on stand-by (Calva, 2004). Abiding by this model and according to Echeverri (INCA Rural, 2009), the public policies oriented to the rural milieu have been implemented in two different ways: on one hand, those policies, that focus on sectors having greater capabilities and that are basically product oriented; and on the other hand, those policies that are channeled towards less well-to-do sectors of the population, focusing on the social players and keeping up welfare approaches to the problem.
Nowadays, even if new models where the focus of attention has shifted to the concept of territory as the specific subject of public policies have been adopted, in many cases the logic behind institutional actions remains in the sectoral sphere with political and managerial indexes of approach and the parameters that answer to the latter. The policies, as an instrument used to strengthen the development of the territories, have both an uncertain role and an uncertain impact. We can establish that the territorial level in which they are located according to their design, produces a generalizing outcome, and so the specificities that shape the communities are lost from sight. At the same time, the preceding situation causes the beneficiaries to depend on the transfer of public resources.
In particular, the rural communities of the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, which are the object of study of the present research, are among the most backwards in the country, and are characterized by the fact that they sustain activities based on a natural resources economy or on a transformation economy1. Both states, which are located in the southern part of Mexico, have important potential natural resources that derive from their natural and environmental riches, and from the development of activities linked to the culture of their peoples. The preceding attributes have, throughout the years, enabled the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero to receive the benefits of the ample offer of public programs aimed at their communities. Nevertheless, most of these programs are only useful as mitigating remedies lacking real actions of an integral nature. As a result, there are limits to the capabilities of local promotion and the self-management of the groups and communities. There is also a joint responsibility concerning the local players, the communities, and the social organizations, which also have not been able to propose a model and/or participation approaches that favor the development of their environment, due to the fact that they have unreflectively accepted welfare policies.
Conclusion
Once the research was carried out, the methodological scheme that we proposed showed that it was capable of revealing information about the initiatives implemented in the territories, surpassing the mere inventorial nature of the beneficiaries regarding each of the existing institutions or programs. Said methodological scheme also provided information concerning the patterns and profiles of the participation of the players. It was also possible to detect the relationships between dimensions, between the aspects we focused on (the social one, the economic one, the infrastructure, etc.), and to identify the nature of the players in the sphere regarding the management of the development.
The methodology, made up of dimensions and analysis indicators, is an instrument that is deemed capable of clearly showing more specific elements that constitute the context or the potential to be developed in the territories.
The incorporation of the information gathered in the interviews as one of the fundamental instruments, resulted in the possibility of acting as a contrasting point between public information and the reality of the communities. The territorial dimensions as analysis axes allowed for both analysis proposals and design proposals that are more inclusive, due to the fact that they gather detailed information regarding the territories, providing more elements to determine the design, implementation and evaluation of the public policies already in place.
According to this scheme, the observation of the productive activities allows us to differentiate the conditions of the same or those of the territory in which they a re located. By using the territorial focus proposal based on an analysis by dimensions (environmental, material, etc.) as transversal axes, we have been able to establish the criteria to promote relationships in the territories that are more inclusive and of a wider scope. Thus, said relationships will go beyond, for example, productive vocations or urban hierarchies.
In a specific manner, the development of the research acknowledges that the rural support and fostering programs are a contribution that does not fully develop its potential; due to the fact that the effects and impact of said programs are not only insufficient, but they also cause an imbalance in the productive structure and on the territory as a whole. By applying the territorial economic development focus to the methodological proposal, we have demonstrated the existing need to generate synergies between the various areas of public policy that affect the same territory.
