An innovative project for Mexican strawberry producers

In Mexico, the precariousness of farmers is very strong: 76% of farms generate only 16% of total income. Small producers are caught in a vicious cycle of poverty: low productivity and quality, lack of market connection, presence of many informal intermediaries, etc. Yet, the country has a lot of potential and that's why "Madre Tierra" was developed. This project, co-built with many stakeholders - such as DanTrade, Danone Ecosystem, the Walmart Foundation in Mexico, Altex, TechnoServe and the German development agency GIZ - offers Mexican strawberry producers a solution to improve their growth.

The ambition of the "Madre Tierra" project is to develop a model of regenerative agriculture, providing Mexican producers with financial and technological resources while training them in these new agricultural practices, which are more respectful of the environment. This will also enable Danone to diversify its sources of sourcing strawberries, sustainable and locally sourced. This is a new step towards our goal of transitioning to a production entirely based on a regenerative agriculture model for the fruit category by 2030.

With an investment of 2 million euros over 4 years (2019-2022), the objective is to strengthen the capacity of producers on two sites to gain competitiveness. While protecting the soil and reducing the use of pesticides and water wastage, the new methods of operation should allow producers to increase their net income.

Between producers and collectors of strawberries, hundreds will benefit from a transfer of skills, certify their production, and receive training in the use of new technologies. Ultimately, these actions will also have an indirect positive impact on the families of the workers as well.