SUMMARY: Since 2021, Heifer International has implemented Milpa for Life, a six-year initiative to strengthen the Mayan milpa system in Yucatán and Campeche, Mexico. The FAO recognizes the Mayan milpa as a globally important agricultural heritage system. It is a traditional intercropping and agroforestry model that integrates maize, beans, squash, and other crops with ancestral knowledge.

The project aims to double native maize yields, increase household income, and promote soil regeneration. By combining regenerative agriculture, inclusive markets, and animal husbandry (bees, poultry, and native pigs), Milpa for Life protects biodiversity, preserves cultural heritage, and fosters rural development, thus rooting productivity growth insustainability.

Transforming the food system to be more sustainable, productive, and resilient is an urgent priority. With climate conditions becoming increasingly unpredictable, the challenge of producing more healthy food for a growing population must be met in ways that restore ecosystems and protect natural resources. By embracing regenerative agriculture and sustainable intensification, we can evolve food systems to work for both people and the planet, ensuring food security while respecting environmental limits. 

Heifer International’s Milpa for Life project, a six-year initiative funded by the John Deere Foundation, is supporting Indigenous smallholder farmers in Mexico´s Yucatán Peninsula to achieve this vision. The project works with rural communities in Yucatán and Campeche to improve crop productivity, increase household income and promote sustainable land management rooted in local knowledge and climate-smart practices.  

The project centers around the milpa, a traditional Mayan intercropping system in which maize, beans and squash are grown together for their complementary benefits. Honoring this ancestral system strengthens agricultural resilience and reinforces the cultural heritage of Indigenous communities facing modern-day climate and economic challenges.  

“There would be no people, no sustaining our families, if it weren’t for the milpa — our fields — and the income that comes from it too,” said Ricardo David Kumul Canul, a 61-year-old farmer currently supported by Milpa for Life. 

The approach demonstrates the benefit of using climate-smart agriculture practices and access to quality farm inputs, especially adapted native maize seeds, to boost yields and simultaneously enhance ecosystem health. 

Through Milpa for Life, Heifer has partnered with communities to establish seed banks to preserve and improve native maize varieties in the region. Farmers are encouraged to save the seeds from plants that perform best under local conditions. For instance, varieties with medium-height cornstalks are now favored over taller ones, as strong winds are less likely to damage them. This selective breeding strategy promotes greater resilience and higher yields and protects native maize biodiversity.  

Alongside native seeds selection, farmers adopt conservation agriculture practices, including soil health restoration, water conservation, crop diversification, integrated pest monitoring and management, natural fertilizers and biopreparations, and manual weed control.  

From 2021 to 2024, the project supported more than 3,000 farmers who expanded sustainably managed land by 759 hectares, increased milpa productivity by 249 percent —from an average of 630 to 1,510 kilograms per hectare — and boosted their milpa-related income by 32 percent. 

The initiative also supports integrated animal husbandry, enabling families to raise poultry, native pigs or bees alongside their crops. This diversification boosts food security and creates new income streams by improving access to inclusive markets. In a context where 78 percent of Mexico’s Indigenous population lives in poverty, and 39 percent in extreme poverty, these improvements are critical. 

The project will continue into 2027 with the goal of supporting 10,000 smallholder farming families. By strengthening Mayan milpa as a living agricultural heritage system and promoting regenerative, locally led food production, Milpa for Life aims to generate lasting impact across food systems, rural economies and the environment.  

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