Yalcoba, Mexico
11 Project reviews of Ta Náayta
Project Details
Ta Naayta is a NGO supporting the Mayan community of Yalcoba through projects for the conservation of natural and cultural heritage and traditional ecological knowledge.
Ta Náayta “What you dreamed of” in Yucatec Maya is a 3 years old dynamic Mexican NGO located in Yalcoba, 30 minutes away from Valladolid, in the Yucatan Peninsula.
Our vision : Be inspired by the Mayan philosophy to develop resilient and sustainable ways of life in close relationship with their environment.
For the past 2 years, we have implemented several development projects in Yalcobá to support the creation of local economic opportunities, the enhancement of the social and community network, the adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate change, and the empowerment of women.
Our projects focus on 3 areas:
- The strengthening of the traditional peasant fabric through agro-ecological practices and solar irrigation systems for traditional farmers in Yalcobá. It aims to improve the food security and income generation of Mayan farming families by enhancing traditional ecological knowledge.
Climate change has significantly weakened the traditional Mayan agricultural model, an important source of community resilience. Local economic opportunities are fewer and force men and young boys to take precarious jobs in the tourist areas of the peninsula and thus destabilizes the family, peasant and community social fabric.
- The rehabilitation of traditional Mayan knowledge focused on meliponiculture that participates in the empowerment of the Mayan women of Yalcobá.
The Melipona Beecheii is a native bee from Central America which is in danger of extinction. Rescuing them and the knowledge that comes with them enables the protection and reproduction of the species, as well as their participation in the pollination and reproduction of flowering plant species.
- The establishment of a community-based tourism project that highlights the natural and cultural Mayan heritage and ensures the creation of jobs in the medium and long term.
The association also has its own plot within the community lands of Yalcobá.
- The idea is to create a multifunctional eco-place, integrated to the indigenous territory, and serving as an experimental base in agroecology, agroforestry and autonomy process (energetic and food) as well as a place of eco and agritouristic reception.
You have the possibility to join us and help the community while learning from them or help us to develop our eco-place.
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Social Impact
The Mayan society of the Yucatan Peninsula is fascinating for its capacity of adaptation and resilience, which is the very reason for its longevity over the centuries.
Despite geophysical difficulties and geo-climatic conditions, demographic collapse, great cultural loss due to colonisation, and continued socio-economic and spatial marginalisation, it has been able to adapt and endure over time.
However, it is one of those peripheral territories where the consequences of short-term climate deregulation can be observed and where the decline of traditional Mayan societies is reinforced by ongoing socio-economic and environmental pressures.
The community of Yalcobá, with over 3,500 inhabitants, is a perfect example, with significant pressure from mass tourism and urbanisation leading to the gradual privatisation of these community lands and the deterioration of their community resilience.
The increasing vulnerability of traditional rural Mayan communities has been identified as a central issue.
Faced with a combination of dynamics such as the globalisation and the tertiarisation of the society, and events such as climate change and the Covid pandemic, rural Mayan society is experiencing significant precariousness and exclusion.
We first identified the farmers as direct victims of climate change: the periods of drought are getting longer and the hurricanes more frequent. In order to compensate the lack of water, which is abundant in the underground layers of the territory, it has been possible to install a borehole pumping water from a solar energy source and to redistribute this water to the crop lines. This pilot project benefitted to 4 farming families. Four boreholes were dug, 3500 m² of edible forest were planted and drip-irrigated, and 45 hours of training and visits related to agroecology were organised.
The crops will help reduce food insecurity by meeting the needs of Mayan families and may provide an income-generating activity in case farmers decide to sell part of their raw or processed production.
Regarding the Melipona project, the aims are :
As Melipona bees do not have a sting, women can take care of them. The hives can be placed in the gardens of the houses, close to where the women spend most of their time.
One year has passed since the distribution of 8 hives to 4 families. One year of support and training has enabled the women to make their first division. Each hive has been divided in two, as the brood had become large enough. The objective is to reproduce them in this way and integrate more families. When choosing the beneficiary families, we make sure to involve several generations of women in order to promote inter-generational links and the transmission of knowledge.