About the Watershed Community

The Dos Puentes and Citlalapa Micro-Watershed

The Dos Puentes and Citlalapa Micro-watershed includes the rural communities of Tepetzingo, Elotepec, San Diego, Coxolo and Axocuapan, along with the municipality of Huatusco in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. The watershed is situated within the forests associated with the Sierra Madre of Oaxaca. The Pico de Orizaba (photo above) dominates the skyline. The state of Veracruz includes twelve watersheds that empty into the Gulf of Mexico.

Climate
This a humid climate. The annual average temperature is 20C. The warmest period is from March to June. May is the hottest month, when temperatures reach between 13.4C and 29C, with highs of 32C. The rainy season lasts five months and coincides with the warm season months – starting in May and ending in September – with an average rainfall of 300mm or more per month, resulting in constant high humidity. In the coolest and driest months of November to February (38.8mm to 67.9mm), temperatures can fall between .3C to 3C at night. There is the possibility of frosts in December and January.

Climate Changes

These frosts pose a threat to agriculture, often stunting and damaging crops. The extreme humidity of the rainy season poses a serious challenge to the production of many commonly consumed vegetables (including tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, etc.)

During the drier months, the lack of rain creates serious water shortages in the communities within the watershed. Women’s lives are effected by the water shortages, as they must travel further to wash laundry and provide water for daily cooking and sanitation needs.

Geography

The micro-watershed is located in the eastern slope of the Eastern Sierra Madre, which form the transversal neovolcanic axis which divides the eastern and western regions of the country. The geomorphology is made up of mountains, hills and ridges. Ridges predominate with small canyons through which run streams with slopes that range from 0-60%, but are commonly more than 40%.

Potable Water

The source of the water for human use in the micro-watershed comes from a spring that is located on private land held by the Finca Kassandra, a large coffee plantation. Due to lack of conservation on the Kasaandra property, the communities have seen a reduction in water. Water quality has also declined from the discharge of agricultural wastes, which has affected the health of local flora and fauna along the riparian zone. While other springs exist, they are not currently tied into the existing water delivery system.

Vegetation

The natural ecosystem of the micro watershed is the mid-mountain forest ecosystem. The forest, known as a cloud forest, is considered one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world. It is a fragmented ecosystem. Due to ridges and canyons, the vegetation develops at different altitudes, creating a wide variety of environmental conditions. This, in part, explains its central biological importance and its rich biodiversity.

Who lives in the watershed?

The watershed is made up of a number of small communities: Elotepec, Tetitlán, San Diego, Coxolo, Tlavictepan, Axocuapan, Tepetzingo, Tlachopa, and the city of Huatusco. The communities in the micro-watershed include 333 residents, 172 women and 161 men. The communities and homes within them tend to be dispersed. This is most likely due to the fact that homes are often located close to coffee plantations.

Housing

There is an average of 5 residents in each household in the watershed. Seventy-three percent of the homes have two to five rooms. Eighty-eight percent of the houses use wood for cooking. This puts tremendous pressure on local forest resources. The use of wood for cooking allows us the opportunity to introduce the concept of individual and community woodlots and the installation of high efficiency cooking stoves known as "Lorena" stoves. Houses tend to be set back from the roads. Generally they are rectangular in shape with additional rooms added to one side.

Health and Diet

The daily diet consists of corn tortillas and black beans. On average, 3.4kg of corn and .5kg of beans are consumed per person per week. Only 1.8% of the residents are enrolled in health services. Some residents who have participated in the program OPORTUNIDADES have attended a few workshops on traditional medicine and herbal medicine to prevent common illnesses. When an individual becomes seriously ill, they can go to Huatusco to receive medical attention. There are sporadic vaccination campaigns for children. In terms of nutrition, a high percentage of the children consume significant quantities of sugar and few fruits or vegetables. Not surprisingly, tooth decay is common.

Schools and Education

The illiteracy rate for those over 15 years of age is 11%. The average school completion is 3.54 years. The majority of the population is literate, but few residents have completed even elementary school. Secondary schools are only available in the larger community of Huatusco. Transportation issues make this difficult for most families.

Employment issues

The Economically Active Population (PEA) in the micro-watershed is 131, which represents 39% of the total population. Of those employed 90% are employed in the primary sector. In Huatusco, 61% are in the secondary sector and 16% in the primary sector. Forty-three percent earn less than a monthly salary since most are hired as day laborers.
With the fall in coffee prices, the costs of production often exceed the sale of the crop. As a result, many farmers have abandoned their parcels to emigrate to the United States and larger cities in Mexico. This phenomenon has increased dramatically in the last ten years. As an example, 20% of the population of Tepetzingo are emigrants.

Types of Local production

This region has been dominated by coffee production. The coffee is shade grown "arabigo" coffee - grown either beneath the natural canopy or trees planted to create shade for the coffee shrubs. Coffee is well adapted to the climate and the plants require minimal care. With rare exceptions, the coffee is harvested manually. Each hectare requires about 15 days of labor per year. The harvest season runs from November to March; all members of the family collaborate on harvesting the precious red beans. The season from June to October, when less work is required, becomes a period for seasonal migrant labor elsewhere. Coffee production can be effective for small producers who do all the work themselves or for large landholders who can keep their overhead low. The average harvester earns 1.80 pesos per kg. Trees planted in coffee plantations include: Vanilla, Plantain, Bracatingas, Ixpepes and Gusanilloa. The most commonly used fertilizers are urea and 18-12-06. Plants are fertilized annually. Maintenance is done with machetes. The common weeds are matlale, amor seco and zacate. Problems are commonly experienced with nematodes, as well as erosion caused by planting on steep slopes.

Land ownership

In Axocupan, the land is held privately with many with small parcels, surrounded by a few with greater acreage. In Tepetzingo, the land is held by an Ejido and small individually owned parcels. Low prices for agricultural products (like coffee) and the absence of other forms of employment has led to migration and the sale of land to individuals and companies from outside the local community. This is the case for Axocuapan, which is practically surrounded by the mega-ranch Kassandra, which is a family owned coffee business. The company has bought, and continues to buy, every parcel that becomes available, causing a serious land shortage for local families and small producers. In addition, with each sale, large portions of forest are felled for agricultural production (mono-cultural shade trees for coffee growing) which further reduces local biodiversity. While the residents of Axocuapan are all landowners, they generally own only the land upon which their homes are built; this is not enough to produce crops for household use, to say nothing of the local market. The situation in Tepetzingo is different. There are many small landowners with 1 or 2 hectares of coffee, although here too, more and more land is being sold to individuals who live outside of the community. According to the residents, 80% of the land in Tepetzingo belongs to absentee landlords. Some of these manage cattle farms which contribute to the local economy, but the sale of coffee parcels to those in Huatusco or other cities has resulted in abandoned land; coffee prices have fallen and the absentee owners do not find it profitable to continue production. In both communities it is rare for land to change hands within the community; the sale of land generally means the new landowner lives elsewhere. The record to date suggests that there will be little positive development after the sale. At the same time, sale of land to those who do not live, or intend to live, in the community means that those who remain have even less power to influence the use or conservation of the land in the neighborhood. It is difficult under these circumstances for residents to communicate or negotiate with distant owners. In the case of active properties, like those of Kassandra, the people who are accessible are employees, not owners, and are therefore not responsible to respond to the concerns of local residents. The sale and resale of land has led to an increase in the price of land, which puts purchasing out of the reach of local residents. The shortage of land in local hands makes it difficult to improve the quality of the soil or increase the food security of local families.