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Iniciativa Agroecológica Xochimilco, A.C.
We are a nonprofit organization working for the biocultural restoration of the chinampas of Xochimilco, Mexico City, by strengthening the people, knowledge, livelihoods, and ecological processes that keep this living agricultural landscape alive.
A model that connects women and territory
Mujer Medicina is not only a training program.
It creates a complete pathway from learning to production, from plants to products, and from individual participation to collective leadership.
The program includes:
- a medicinal and aromatic agroforestry system;
- a collective herbal dehydration module;
- training in regenerative agronomy and water management;
- business and financial skills;
- women’s support groups and psychosocial accompaniment;
- and tools for participants to reproduce the model within their communities.
By the end of the program, the goal is to leave behind both tangible productive infrastructure and lasting human capacities.
Why it matters for Xochimilco
Chinampas are living agricultural wetlands whose continuity depends on everyday care, local knowledge, biodiversity management, and community organization.
Women already sustain much of this work, although their contribution is often undervalued or economically invisible.
Mujer Medicina turns that knowledge into recognized skills, productive opportunities, stronger support networks, and practical climate action.
A reactivated chinampa can once again support:
- healthy soils;
- efficient water management;
- high biodiversity;
- vegetation and carbon storage;
- family economy;
- and the transmission of traditional knowledge.
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Why the chinampas matter
A functioning chinampa landscape contributes far beyond the boundaries of individual farms.
It supports:
- food production and local livelihoods;
- water infiltration and circulation;
- carbon storage in soils and vegetation;
- habitat and biodiversity;
- local climate regulation;
- and the continuity of a globally significant living agricultural heritage.
The future of the chinampas is therefore inseparable from the future of the people who manage them.
What we do
The Applied Research in Chinampa Agroecology for Climate Resilience Program combines scientific research, local knowledge, and field-based collaboration with chinamperos.
Our first research phase, supported in part by World Monuments Fund through its Cultivating Resilience program, developed a series of socioecological diagnostic studies across contrasting forms of chinampa management and land use.
Together with producers and technical partners, we have studied:
soil · water · carbon · woody vegetation · agrobiodiversity · agricultural production · cultural values · climate risks · management practices
Our objective is to understand which forms of management help keep chinampas productive, ecologically functional, and culturally alive.
From evidence to action
Our research points to a fundamental idea:
Agriculture and ecosystem conservation are not competing objectives in the chinampa landscape. Appropriate farming and land management are part of what keeps the ecosystem functioning.
The next phase of research will deepen this evidence.
We want to understand:
- how carbon stocks change under different management and land-use trajectories;
- how soil microbial communities contribute to nutrient cycling, soil health, and resilience;
- how trees and agroforestry systems store and cycle carbon;
- how apantles influence water quality;
- which ecosystem services can be reliably measured;
- and how those services could eventually support public or private incentive mechanisms for chinampero stewardship.
At the same time, we aim to work directly with producers to test practices that improve water management, soil health, agrobiodiversity, climate adaptation, and economic viability.
Our long-term vision is for productive chinampa management to be recognized not only as agriculture, but as stewardship of water, biodiversity, climate regulation, and living cultural heritage.