IKI IBA – Integrating Biodiversity into Agriculture in Mexico

Implementing organization: GIZ    Duration: 12/2016 - 01/2021 Main counterpart: SADER, SEMARNAT IKI area: Biodiversity







Initial situation 

The agricultural sector is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss and climate change. It is also one of the sectors most affected by these processes. Agriculture depends heavily on biodiversity and ecosystem services; however, their value to the sector and the environmental costs associated with unsustainable agricultural practices are often overlooked in sectoral decision-making and are not adequately considered in subsidy programmes or other economic or financial instruments.

This project, jointly implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRICULTURA), the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), and the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), aims to integrate the socioeconomic, ecological, and cultural values of biodiversity and ecosystem services into the decision-making and planning instruments of key public and private actors in Mexico’s agricultural sector.

Together with public-sector actors, research centres, the private sector, FAO, and UNEP, the project implements exemplary instruments for biodiversity conservation, climate protection, and the promotion of sustainable agricultural practices, which have been integrated into selected agricultural production systems and value chains.

Lessons learned from the analysis, design, and implementation of incentives that promote sustainable land-use practices have been integrated into public policies and tested in pilot states with the aim of scaling these experiences up to the policy level.

This project promotes intersectoral dialogue and generates concrete examples for mainstreaming biodiversity into agriculture, which will contribute to the international debate.

Work with the public sector

The project provided advice to AGRICULTURA in developing the priority objective “Climate change and natural resources” (Sectoral Programme) and its cross-cutting Climate Plan (including biodiversity), as well as contributions to the new intersectoral Special Climate Change Programme (coordinated by SEMARNAT) and the national implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The project worked with the agricultural and environmental sectors of Jalisco to develop a Biodiversity Mainstreaming Strategy for the state, which will guide state-level efforts toward sustainable production.

In December 2019, the project’s progress was presented and discussed at the Madrid Climate Summit (UNFCCC COP 25). The Mexican delegation, represented by SADER, highlighted the importance of biodiversity-friendly and climate-smart agriculture for implementing the Paris Agreement.

Work with the private sector

In 2019, the Madre Tierra project began in cooperation with Danone, Altex, TechnoServe, and Nuup. The project seeks to develop regenerative agriculture with a positive impact on the strawberry value chain in Maravatío, Michoacán, with the aim of improving production, business, and sustainability conditions for 140 small-scale producers.

National Pollinator Strategy

The project supports intersectoral collaboration by actively participating in the process of developing the National Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators, including an analysis of the current status of pollinators in Mexico and the structure for the Zero Draft. The strategy is expected to be launched in 2021.

This video, produced in cooperation with Deutsche Welle, discusses the loss of vanilla pollinators in Mexico.

TEEB AgriFood Mexico

In 2019, with the participation of 20 institutions from the agricultural, environmental, and health sectors, the TEEB AgriFood study (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food) was launched with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the European Union. It paves the way for making the socioeconomic, ecological, and cultural values of maize visible by comparing production in the traditional milpa system with industrial production. A study on the coffee value chain is also planned. Preliminary results on the values of biodiversity and ecosystem services in Mexico’s agricultural sector are expected by September 2021.

Due to the high relevance of TEEB AgriFood Mexico, the European Union decided to support the initiative within the private sector. This support aims to raise awareness among Mexican agri-food companies about the values of biodiversity so that they can work together to minimize their impacts and contribute to a more sustainable agricultural and food sector. For this reason, the project is collaborating with the Capitals Coalition, an initiative that works with companies and organizations and develops protocols that help businesses identify, measure, and value their impacts and dependencies on natural, social, and human capital. This seeks to make natural capital visible and quantifiable and to identify impacts and dependencies in order to value and protect biodiversity and contribute to a more sustainable agricultural sector.

Both the public-sector and private-sector TEEB initiatives focus on public policy and corporate decision-making, respectively.

National Producers Meeting

In May 2018, an exchange of experiences and knowledge took place among representatives of rural organizations and producers who already integrate the values of biodiversity and ecosystem services into their productive activities. The objective of the meeting was to identify potential areas of cooperation, exchange good practices, and systematize experiences so they could be integrated into policy decision-making processes.

Subsequently, three Regional Forums were held in Oaxaca, Mérida, and Guadalajara to identify priorities for pilot projects on mainstreaming biodiversity into agricultural production processes and value chains.

As a result of the events, a catalogue of experiences on mainstreaming biodiversity into Mexican agriculture (local experiences) was compiled, based on contributions from producers, non-governmental organizations, academics, and community representatives.

Biodiversity Mainstreaming Centre

With support from the project, biodiversity mainstreaming in the agricultural sector was institutionalized through the opening of SADER’s Biodiversity Mainstreaming Centre. The centre aims to promote intersectoral exchange for the sustainable development of the agricultural sector. Among other contributions, the centre will support implementation of the agreement between the agricultural and environmental sectors, under which agricultural subsidy programmes will not promote the expansion of agricultural land into protected natural areas or areas with natural vegetation. The SAGARPA subsidy programme for small and medium-sized producers for 2018 explicitly promotes sustainable production techniques that integrate the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Value chains

The Mainstreaming Biodiversity into Mexican Agriculture project (IKI-IBA) promotes the vanilla value chain in the Huasteca region of Hidalgo and the prickly pear value chain in the State of Mexico using the ValueLinks methodology. This promotes sustainable production with an emphasis on valuing ecosystem services, enabling value-chain actors to reach agreements that encourage sustainable production practices, add value to products, and thereby generate better incomes and improve product quality throughout the chain.

Three pilot projects are currently being implemented to strengthen biodiversity-friendly practices in selected areas:

  • Municipality of Santiago Tilantongo, Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca – The project promotes the milpa system intercropped with fruit trees on hillsides, sustainable goat farming, backyard production practices, and conservation agriculture. In this way, it seeks to implement sustainable land management practices and restore ecosystem services and biodiversity in the region.
  • Municipality of Chacksinkin, Yucatán – A regional network of milperos (Maya maize farmers) is being strengthened, along with cultural aspects of traditional forest and crop management.
  • Municipality of Apaseo El Grande, Guanajuato – The project supports the capacity building and social organization of producers who use conservation agriculture and management practices to organically increase soil fertility.

All these pilot projects include training workshops on biodiversity monitoring and exchanges of experiences among producers.

Economics of Land Degradation Initiative

The advisory services of the GIZ Global Project “Economics of Land Degradation” (ELD), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), provide additional knowledge on soil protection and fertility in agriculture. For this reason, in collaboration with the project, seminars and workshops on the ELD methodology for valuing land degradation have been organized in Oaxaca and Mexico City for decision-makers and resource managers.

Through this cooperation, BMZ will provide resources to complement the existing biophysical data on conditions in the Mixteca region of Oaxaca with an economic analysis of development scenarios (for example, the costs of soil degradation), in cooperation with local scientists. The aim is to use the experiences from this pilot project to adapt policies and programmes at the federal and local levels that promote the sustainable use of biodiversity.

Training-of-trainers workshop on Integrating Ecosystem Services into Development Planning in Agricultural Landscapes

The objective of the workshop is to provide the ISE Ag Methodology which makes it possible to recognize the links between ecosystem services, well-being, and economic activities—mainly agriculture—as a crucial factor in development planning. It provides tools and methods for assessing ecosystem conditions, trends, and risks, as well as for valuing priority ecosystem services. It facilitates the analysis of stakeholder groups and drivers of change and helps identify policy options that take the value of ecosystem services into account.

Financing mechanisms

  • Investment fund for regenerative agriculture

An investment fund for regenerative agriculture is being designed, with the objective of capitalizing a fund that will finance agricultural projects focused on regenerating ecosystem services. The aim is to begin financing with three pilot projects based on three strategic value chains for Mexico: banana, oil palm, and mezcal agave.

  • Validation of three business models that are bankable for private investment

Three business models—for banana, agave, and oil palm—are being designed and strengthened in order to improve their practices and financial and logistical operations so that they can integrate and implement biodiversity conservation practices and technologies into their activities and thereby obtain financing from private and public sources.

In addition, three assessments of the mango, tomato, and citrus value chains will be conducted in order to establish recommendations for improving the sustainability and innovation criteria and needs of the business models of these three producer groups in Chiapas, and to turn them into bankable businesses for Walmart and other potential buyers.

  • Inclusive and sustainable financial education for the State of Puebla

A financial education module is being designed for producers in Puebla. As with the other mechanisms, training and financial capacity building are planned for producers in the Tehuacán Reserve and in Zacatlán.

Here you can find the Agricultural ISE Manual.