33. Development of Local Capabilities for Rural Innovation in Indigenous Communities of Mexico

In Mexico, 68 indigenous ethnic groups have common cultural traits: use of native languages or own forms of organization. Efforts to address social deficiencies in the population have proven to be ineffective due to cultural and linguistic barriers that hinder social mobility. Obtaining material and financial resources to promote community development has been a major constraint in rural areas. A two-year training program for Bilingual Local Managers (BLM) inside the Mayo ethnicity in Sonora, Mexico was implemented to identify local development needs, formulate projects, and design rural innovation programs linked to endogenous resources based on individual and collective initiatives. Forty-six BLM and several diagnoses identify and prioritize in localities initiatives related to management, infrastructure development, desired welfare levels, profits generation for reinvestment inside the community, and levels of initial capital contribution. Main development axes are related to agriculture, livestock, forestry, rural infrastructure, seafood small business, local language identity conservation, culture, housing and food sovereignty. BLM formalized some projects and legal society’s producers.