Arts Lab

Mexico’s Sembrando Vida, or “Sowing Life” program was launched by president Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2019 as his signature program under the Secretary of Welfare. While often referred to as a “reforestation” program, Sembrando Vida actually seeks to address two problems: rural poverty and environmental degradation.  Mexico, the 11th most-forested country in the world, is losing an average of nearly 213 thousand hectares of forest a year, according to the National Forestry Commission. The administration, on the Sembrando Vida website, diagnoses the causes of deforestation in this way: “Due to conditions of poverty, the rural regions of the country have undergone, in recent decades, a significant process of deforestation, and over-exploitation of its resources…”

The goals of Sembrando Vida include planting a million hectares of fruit and timber trees in agroforestry systems, supported by trained technicians, state-supervised nurseries, and “peasant learning communities.” The program currently claims to have 400,000 beneficiaries in 20 states throughout Mexico, who upon enrolling and adhering to the program, receive a salary of 5,000 MXN, 500 of which are placed into a savings account for them.

Sembrando Vida’s website reads, “Our objective is to contribute to the social welfare of the agrarian subjects in their rural locations and to promote their effective participation in the holistic development of their communities.”  Touting the program as “agroecology” López Obrador presents it as a panacea for carbon sequestration, reforestation, poverty mitigation and amelioration of the migration crisis. In recent negotiations with the U.S. the Mexican president has proposed his vision be extended across Central America.

COP 26

On October 31^st to November 12^th 2021, the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties 26 (COP 26) was held in Glasgow. Despite the emphatic urgency of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and similar overtures by other political leaders, COP26 is roundly regarded as a failed deal, reached through “watered-down” language pushed by corporate lobbying. Recent calculations, assuming the most recent agreement will be in place, estimate planetary levels of warming will be 2.4 degrees, a considerable backslide from the 1.5 degrees target Declared in the Paris Agreement of 2015. The resolution has been called a “betrayal of global South countries.”

López Obrador (or “AMLO”) who was not present at the COP, critiqued the gathering of political and business leaders for their “hypocrisy” and failure to address “monstrous inequality” as a root cause of the climate crisis. Mexico was one of the last countries to sign on to a COP 26 pact of  105 countries to end deforestation by 2030, and AMLO’s administration has drawn fire from climate action groups for failure to commit to a clean energy transition.

In response to criticisms of Mexico’s half-hearted participation, López Obrador claimed that Sembrando Vida was, in fact, the inspiration for the pact on deforestation, pointing out that no other nation was spending 1.3 billion dollars annually to halt forest loss.

Our Project

Given the magnitude and scope, both actual and proposed, of Sembrando Vida in the Americas, and its positioning at COP as an example to the rest of the world, this project includes the collaboration of peasant leaders, defenders of territory, activists, and researchers to examine the impacts of Sembrando Vida on the ground and the implications of such state-led “agroecology from above.” 

The project is a collaboration between the National Autonomous University of Mexico Merida and the University of Glasgow, and was funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund.

Cómo entender Sembrando Vida

El programa Sembrando Vida de México se arrancó por el presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador en 2019 como su programa insignia bajo la Secretaría del Bienestar.

Aunque a menudo se refiere como un programa de "reforestación", Sembrando Vida en realidad busca atender dos problemas: la pobreza rural y la degradación ambiental.  México, el undécimo país más boscoso del mundo, está perdiendo un promedio de casi 213 mil hectáreas de bosque al año, según la Comisión Nacional Forestal. La administración, en el sitio web Sembrando Vida, diagnostica las causas de la deforestación de esta manera: "Debido a las condiciones de pobreza, las regiones rurales del país han sufrido, en las últimas décadas, un importante proceso de deforestación y sobreexplotación de sus recursos..."

Los objetivos de Sembrando Vida incluyen la plantación de un millón de hectáreas de árboles frutales y maderables en sistemas agroforestales, con el apoyo de técnicos capacitados, viveros supervisados por el Estado y "comunidades campesinas de aprendizaje''. El programa afirma tener actualmente 400.000 beneficiarios en 20 estados de México, que al inscribirse y adherirse al programa reciben un salario de 5.000 MXN, 500 de los cuales se depositan en una cuenta de ahorro para ellos.

El sitio web de Sembrando Vida dice: "Nuestro objetivo es contribuir al bienestar social de los sujetos agrarios en sus localidades rurales y promover su participación efectiva en el desarrollo integral de sus comunidades."  Promoviendo el programa como "agroecología", López Obrador lo presenta como una panacea para la captura de carbono, la reforestación, la mitigación de la pobreza y la mejora de la crisis migratoria. En recientes negociaciones con Estados Unidos, el presidente mexicano ha propuesto que su visión se extienda a toda Centroamérica.

COP 26

Del 31 de octubre al 12 de noviembre de 2021 se celebró en Glasgow la Conferencia de las Partes de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático 26 (COP 26). A pesar de la enfática urgencia del primer ministro británico, Boris Johnson, y de las propuestas similares de otros líderes políticos, la COP26 se considera en general un acuerdo fallido, alcanzado mediante un lenguaje "diluido" impulsado por los grupos de presión empresariales. Cálculos recientes, asumiendo que el acuerdo más reciente estará en vigor, estiman que los niveles de calentamiento planetario serán de 2,4 grados, un retroceso considerable respecto al objetivo de 1,5 grados declarado en el Acuerdo de París de 2015. La resolución ha sido calificada como una "traición a los países del Sur global".

López Obrador (o "AMLO"), que no estuvo presente en la COP, criticó la reunión de líderes políticos y empresariales por su "hipocresía" y por no haber abordado la "monstruosa desigualdad" como causa fundamental de la crisis climática. México fue uno de los últimos países en firmar el pacto de la COP 26 de 105 países para poner fin a la deforestación para 2030, y la administración de AMLO ha sido criticada por los grupos de acción climática por no comprometerse con una transición energética limpia.

En respuesta a las críticas sobre la participación poco entusiasta de México, López Obrador afirmó que Sembrando Vida fue, de hecho, la inspiración para el pacto sobre la deforestación, señalando que ninguna otra nación estaba gastando 1.300 millones de dólares anuales para detener la pérdida de bosques.

Nuestro proyecto

Dada la magnitud y el alcance, tanto real como propuesto, de Sembrando Vida en las Américas, y su posicionamiento en la COP como ejemplo para el resto del mundo, este proyecto incluye la colaboración de líderes campesinos, defensores del territorio, activistas e investigadores para examinar los impactos de Sembrando Vida sobre el terreno y las implicaciones de esta "agroecología desde arriba" dirigida por el Estado. 

El proyecto es una colaboración entre la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Mérida y la Universidad de Glasgow, y fue financiado por el Global Challenges Research Fund.

Emma Cardwell is an environmental geographer who works on the economic organization of agriculture, food production and environmental conservation. Her work is informed by feminist and post-colonial science and technology studies (STS).

Anna Chadwick works in the fields of law and international development and international economic governance. Her research examines the obstacles to achieving sustainable and equitable food systems under current legal and institutional structures of food governance, and she uses an intra-legal approach to examine tensions between legal regimes that govern the global economy and financial system and the commitments made by states under international human rights law and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  Anna is a Co-Director of the Food Sovereignty Network (an Arts Lab Theme).

Omar Felipe Giraldo is professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Omar does research in Political Ecology and Environmental Philosophy. He received the 2021 Research Award in Social Sciences from the Mexican Academy of Sciences. His more recent books: Conflictos entre mundos (eds.) (In press); Afectividad Ambiental (Ecosur-UV, 2020); Political Ecology of Agriculture. (Springer, 2019); and Utopías en la Era de la Supervivencia. (Itaca, 2014).

Kate Keller is an orchardist, anti-capitalist activist, and a passionate lover of creatures and nature. She holds an M.S. in Environmental Studies and dedicates her work to struggles for territory and life. She is fascinated by words, languages, and the worlds they belong to.

Julia McClure is a lecturer in late medieval and early modern global history at the University of Glasgow. She specialises in the history of poverty, inequality, and the Spanish Empire. Her current research examines property rights and the ecological impacts of imperialism. Julia is a Co-Director of the Food Sovereignty Network (an Arts Lab Theme), and director of the Poverty Research Network.

Alberto Vallejo Reyna is an ethnologist, anthropologist, and mesoamericanist with a PhD from UNAM. 

Peter Rosset works in the Department of Agriculture, Society and Environment at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Mexico.

Rosa López Valentín is an Engineer in Agroecology trained at the University Autónoma Chapingo. She collaborates on the research project "Re-costing the earth: indigenous governance of silviculture in Southern Mexico and the redesign of ‘sustainable development’ consultation and impact assessment."

Details of our webinar, held on 25 November 2021, can be seen on the eventbrite page in English or Spanish.

Recordings are available at:

Español: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S90MeoN6fM

English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9STiBJJYfv4