The Irrigation Frontline -- Examining Land Use Change and Resource
Rights Fueling the Michoacan Berry Boom
Abstract
Year-round demand for luxury food crops, such as berries, has rapidly
increased for high income populations in the last twenty years. For
example, the United States per capita import of berries has increased
tenfold in twenty years, with at least 98% of its imported
strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries being sourced from Mexico.
In the Mexican state of Michoacan, agricultural areas have transformed
to satisfy the global demand, altering local water and land resource
patterns. While previous studies have examined the water resource
sustainability of export agriculture, more research is needed to
understand how export-oriented agriculture competes with or complements
common pool resource systems previously established in production
regions. In this study, we combine a national dataset on
communal-tenured land (ejidal land) with geospatial agricultural data to
quantify the water and land use resource changes of Michoacan – the
booming heart of Mexican berries. This study captures the berry boom
that occurred in the state between 2010 and 2020 using machine learning
algorithms on satellite images, land cover change mapping, and
biophysical modelling. It asks to what extent the communal land, with
its associated natural resources, has been incorporated into the
agro-export crop industry. This study adds to the existing commons
literature by assessing local land use and resource use change within an
increasingly globalized world.