Indigenous agroforestry dying of thirst amid a sea of avocados in Mexico
Angahuan, a small town in the Michoacán state of México, is home to generations of P’urhépecha women, an Indigenous group known for their traditional medicine practices. Curanderas, or ‘tsinajperi’ (“the ones that make life grow”), are healers known for their use of herbal medicine. The women use traditional agroforestry systems to cultivate thriving ecosystems that benefit from one another. However, climate change induced water shortages and US-dominated agribusiness have put the entire system at risk. About 80% of Michoacán’s harvests are shipped to US grocery stores, with avocados being a notable output. Combined with longer drought seasons and drying soil, Curanderas began resorting to buying bottled gallons to hydrate their medicinal crops. Now, P’urhépecha healers are resisting the postcolonial system in avocado farms by regenerating forests in the high hills. The project will build up water resources, replenish medicinal crops, and support the development of a natural pharmacy business in town—allowing for ecosystem restoration, the preservation of traditional practices, and local economies.