CONTRIBUTION OF PRODUCER ORGANIZATIONS TO THE SUTAINABITLITY OF THEIR TERRITORIES, GUAYA’B (GUATEMALA) Y MAYA VINIC (CHIAPAS)

The present work aims at identifying and assesment the contribution of honey and coffee producers to the sustainability of their territories, by using a qualitative approach. For this purpose, two economically oriented organizations, which emerged in the context of strong social conflicts, are studied: “Unión de Productores Maya Vinic, Soc. Coop.” in Los Altos de Chiapas, México and “Guaya’b A.C.” in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. We identify eight categories of analysis, shaped thought the approach to these organizations, our previous experience with other similar organizational processes and the reading of documents. These categories are: self-organization; collective action; income and other benefits; conservation of natural resources; development of abilities and capacities; identity; integration to communal life and permanence. Taken together, these categories aim to help to provide a qualitative tool to increase our knowledge of two of the honey and coffee beans producers’ structure with the purpose of finding whether they contribute to the sustainability of their land. We defined measurement scales for each of these categories, based on the organization members’ perception. Finally, we carried out a graphical visualization of the interaction between these categories, by constructing a radial graph. We stress the importance that deepening the knowledge of the context and history of the territories, where these organizations are immersed, has for both, the understanding of their self-organization and the contributions they may offer to their own members and their territori. In the same way, we conclude that there is a close relation among producers’ organizations, its self-organization and their ties to their territories (the identity to the territory) and to those elements that allow its sustainability.