Agroecological Entrepreneurship, Public Support, and Sustainable Development: The Case of Rural Yucatan (Mexico)

Rocío Blanco-Gregory, Leonor Elena López-Canto, María Victoria Sanagustín-Fons and Violante Martínez-Quintana
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Rocío Blanco-Gregory: Faculty of Business, Finance and Tourism, University of Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain
Leonor Elena López-Canto: Faculty of Accounting and Administration, Autonomous University of Yucatan, 97205 Mérida (Yucatán), Mexico
María Victoria Sanagustín-Fons: Faculty of Business and Public Management, University of Zaragoza, 22001 Huesca, Spain
Violante Martínez-Quintana: Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology, UNED, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-24

Abstract: This paper offers an approach to Yucatecan social reality in terms of entrepreneurship and the process of creating companies dedicated to the production and/or commercialization of agroecological products, considering its contribution to sustainable rural development. The key actors’ perspective towards the existence of policies that favor land sustainability, assist in the development of rural areas and their population, and support these business initiatives is also presented. Likewise, it illustrates the small entrepreneurs’ standpoint on the role of public institutions in promoting wealth generation and sustainable development in lower growth areas, such as the state of Yucatan, in Mexico. A qualitative methodology was used for this research, based on in-depth interviews with a group of businessmen and -women from the region. The main results give a pessimistic view of institutional concern regarding both production and consumption of agroecological products and, therefore, the promotion of these enterprises for the socioeconomic development of Yucatan. From these findings, we detect: (a) A policy of scarce support for this type of production, due to political priorities; (b) inadequate management that prevents the consolidation of certain structures needed to support agroecological enterprises; (c) a lack of confidence in the Yucatecan government, which does not promote or support a social network of collaboration between agroecological producers and marketers; (d) a difficulty in undertaking agroecological enterprises because of social and cultural norms and poor environmental awareness among the population; (e) significant training deficiencies among entrepreneurs in agroecological agriculture; (f) absence of adequate distribution channels for agroecological products; and (g) excessive bureaucratic obstacles through laws that hinder entrepreneurial processes.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; agroecological production; sustainable development; public institutions; rurality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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