‘Creating (Local) Space for Change’: Strengthening Agroecological Farming and Fair Trade Practices in the State of Jalisco, Western Mexico

The article describes the experience of the Network for Sustainable Agricultural Alternatives (RASA: Red de Alternativas Sustentables Agropecuarias) in western Mexico, which can be considered an initiative of civil society constituted by different social actors constructing new strategies for sustainable rural development. Presented here are different aspects of the RASA, whose work focuses on farmer training in agroecology and, recently also, fair trade practices, the insights gained and the challenges that lie ahead for strengthening sustainable rural development. The RASA can be considered a social organization with characteristics of the so-called new social movements that seek for an increasing role of civil society in political decision-making, in this case regarding rural development in Mexico.