Ejido: Local Power, Collective Responsibility
Tara A. Spears
Foreigners frequently ask, “What is an Ejido? What’s its significance?” The ejido system remains an important part of the rural landscape throughout the country. Mexico currently has 32,236 agrarian nuclei (National Agrarian Registry, 2023), distributed between ejidos (common lands) and communal properties, meaning that ejido/social property represents approximately 51% of the country’s territory.
Ejidos continue to provide a way for small farmers and indigenous communities to collectively own and manage land. For specific discussion of the pitfalls of a foreigner buying ejido land, go to the previous article, ‘Nayarit Ejido- Cultural Traditions.’ The primary responsibility of an Ejido committee is to act as a guarantor of legality and as legal advisor to agrarian entities and communities, ensuring that all legal actions arising from the signing of agreements and contracts with third parties, or from projects to be developed within their territory, strictly adhere to the principles of equity, profitability, and sustainability.
The La Penita Ejido Nayarit recently installed new leaders for a three – year term: Jorge Alonso Macías González as president; María Guadalupe Ibarria Chavarín, treasurer; and Francisca Villa Chavarín, secretary. This election was notable for the harmonious meeting and peaceful cooperation between the various groups and political orientations that exist in the Penita ejido.
However, the ejido system has also faced criticisms over the years, including issues with land fragmentation, lack of investment in infrastructure and technology, and conflicts between different groups within the community.
In every ejido community, there is a figure who represents, organizes, and, in theory, defends collective interests: the ejido commissioner. Elected by the assembly to serve a three-year term, this position is key to the agrarian life of thousands of communities in Mexico, but also one of the most misunderstood, questioned, and even used for political or personal gains.
The ejido commissioner is not an informal figurehead. This position is an authority with constitutional support that is tasked with representing the ejido before other institutions, executes the decisions of the assembly, and must ensure that collective rights and agreements are respected.
In practice, many ejidatarios view the commissioner as a “president” who makes decisions alone, or as someone who “rules” over the assembly. Nothing could be further from his legal role. The commissioner must obey what the majority meeting in the assembly says and not act on his own volition. He represents the group members.
In the last six months, the ejido has been asked to attend meetings regarding infrastructure development with CFE and Oromapas. As the services have become outdated and under needed capacity, Ejido is the liaison between its members and the utility companies. While no ejido in Mexico can be forced to donate land and thereby relieve municipal or state governments of their burdens, whether for landfills, schools, hospitals, or housing, the opinion of its members have significant value.
Public services such as water, drainage, sewage, public lighting, security, slaughterhouses, and garbage collection and treatment are constitutional obligations of municipal governments that share the same constituents with ejido.
Thus, with the advice provided by the Ejido president and their members, their opinion can impact the development of projects of various kinds, bringing together producers with the same or different ownership regimes, diversifying their economic activities through the optimal and sustainable use of their natural resources, for the benefit of rural families.
Visitors to Mexico that want to purchase land must recognize that the most desirable plots of land located near the beach, especially along the Pacific Ocean coast, such as Puerto Vallarta and the Riviera Nayarit, are most likely part of an Ejido. You can verify the land status at the Ejido office but seek reputable legal advice before purchasing.
Those selected to be ejido commissioner need to have the goal to operate as a position of service, not of power. Being an ejido commissioner is not a personal privilege, but a collective responsibility. He or she carries the voice of the ejido outward, but he or she must also listen to the voice of everyone within. If this position is understood and exercised well, it can be the cornerstone of agrarian organization. If it is distorted, it can become the source of conflicts that last for generations. 