Mexico : Land Policy--A Decade after the Ejido Reform

This study aims to assess the extent to
which reforms have actually been implemented, the impact
they have had on the rural population, and the challenges
which, as a consequence, need to be addressed by the new
administration. This report is organized as follows: Section
1 describes Mexico's rural economy. It reviews the
broad context of macro, trade, and sector-level reforms, the
strengths and weaknesses of both the productive and
socio-economic structure of agriculture and the social
sector, highlighting in particular the socio-economic and
natural resource characteristics that make the ejido sector
central to Mexico's development. Section 2 details the
rationale behind the 1992 legal reforms intended to to end
almost a century of politically motivated interventions in
the internal structure of te ejido and improve the
functioning of land and labor markets in the social sector.
This section reviews the way reforms were implemented, the
procedural safeguards adopted to prevent abuse, and the
advances, both in terms of numbers as well as impact, made
in implementing them. Section 3 assesses PROCEDE (the
National Certifcation Program of Ejido Rights and Urban
Lots) and its impact on the functioning of land rental and
sales markets, ejidatarios' access to credit, and
investment. Section 4 sums up policy recommendations in six
key areas, including land policy, completion of PROCEDE, and
ensuring the sustainability of the advances made under PROCEDE.