"Working the land without technology is tough. It requires workdays of over 12 hours that begin at 3 a.m. And more than 4 million agro producers in Mexico find themselves under these conditions," shares Ángeles Marcial Mejía, a young woman from a family of small producers in the rural community of Cristina Zaragoza de la Luz, in the Mixteca Poblana, Mexico, when talking about her initiative Earth-IoT: Conectando el campo, one of three Mexican social transformation projects selected and supported with seed capital by the UNESCO and Nestlé pilot program: Impulso Joven– Because Youth Matters.
Throughout her life, Ángeles has experienced shortages and difficulties due to the lack of technology for the working land, such as the exacerbation of inequality and the lag in production, which affects the quality of life of agricultural communities and the supply and food security for the population.
In response, Ángeles built the first agrotechnology platform in the country that supports small and medium producers in her community throughout the entire production process through agrotechnology, a perspective that pursues the efficiency, profitability, and sustainability of the agricultural industry, as well as food security, through tools like the Internet of Things (IoT), which allows data collection and analysis through remote sensors, robots, drones, or computer images, such as those on soil moisture changes, nutrient levels, or predicting outcomes for future harvests.
According to Ángeles, practically 85% of agricultural producers with SMEs lack access to tools to achieve productive, sustainable, and profitable activity.
Ensuring sufficient, safe, and nutritious food with a human rights perspective is part of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For this, it is essential to incorporate new agricultural approaches. Agroecology and agrotechnology are some of them, as they can reduce production costs, which can translate into higher incomes, economic stability, and resilience for food producers, who are often highly vulnerable to disruptions caused by the climate crisis. New employment opportunities can be created for young people and women by agroecological approaches, a goal achieved by Ángeles through her project Earth-IoT: Conectando el campo.
We collect information at every step simply and reliably through sensors and a digital field notebook, allowing the producer to have a digital and detailed record
The tool created by Ángeles has enhanced the income projection of farmers by up to 50%, saving fertilizers up to 40% and 30% in water and energy use, which also means a reduction in carbon footprint throughout the cycle.
For Ángeles, young people have a singular worldview that can transform society through actions like Impulso Joven, which enhances entrepreneurial minds through constant support, mentorship, and knowledge exchange.
The Mexican project was one of 20 selected from over 900 applications from young people aged 18 to 29 and youth organizations to the UNESCO and Nestlé pilot program for the Latin America and Caribbean region.
The program granted seed capital of 10,000 dollars and specialized advisory services to strengthen innovative projects with positive social impact in communities. In June, it brought together the selected young people from 11 countries at the UNESCO Villa Ocampo Observatory in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for intensive training sessions, practical workshops, mentorships, and various activities to continue strengthening their initiatives.
"Being able to learn from UNESCO and Nestlé mentors and exchange experiences and viewpoints, for me as an entrepreneur, is a path of constant learning and challenges to address, which is why these kinds of programs not only provide financial support but also follow-up with mentorships, allow me to lean on this path and learn from them to improve and replicate that valuable knowledge in my community."
Impulso Joven-Because Youth Matter is coordinated by UNESCO's Social and Human Sciences Sector. It is part of the "Initiative for Youth," a global project by Nestlé, and the UNESCO Global Youth Scholarship Plan.
In Mexico, the Sector strengthens the knowledge, skills, capacities, and attitudes of public and private actors, civil society, and academia to enhance inclusive public policies, promote the ethical approach to sciences and technologies, and facilitate dialogue spaces to mobilize the construction of peaceful, inclusive, and resilient societies from an intercultural, gender, and social transformation perspective.
