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The World Food Summit, Rome, in 1996 estimated the undernourished population at almost 800 million. In Mexico, the highest level of undernourishment among children (27%) is recorded in the state of Yucatan. Improvements in agricultural production were carried out in a traditional Mayan farming village in the poorest area of Yucatan. Milpa crops including maize, beans, and squash yields were improved by the use of fertilizers, mulching, and herbicides while keeping the local species as cover crops. Innovations double the yields and the benefit/cost ratios. Also, improvement in chicken production was effected via construction of chicken pens and use of vaccines, which increased the benefits/cost ratio from 0.8 to about 1.3. Other innovations included production of honeybee, as well as citrus orchards and vegetables. The health status of the youths was measured in 1996 (when the project began) and again in 2000. After 4 years, improvements in production, productivity, and access to subsidies and loans had an immediate effect on both the household level of investment and the health status of children. Children who were measured in 2000 are taller than their counterparts in 1996, but the differences were not statistically significant. However, their nutritional status improved significantly in terms of body mass index (BMI) in both sexes and in all three age groups (3, 7, and 11 years) studied. The results obtained suggest that traditional, diversified farms, if properly improved, can provide the basic food requirements for the farmers' families and increase their cash income.

Different initiatives have promoted the use of improved cook stoves around the world. Their goal has been to eradicate cooking over open flame inside dwellings because it is associated with health problems, inefficient resource use and greenhouse gas emissions. Most of these improved cook stoves initiatives depend heavily on expert-generated solutions, treating users as mere recipients. However, they have had little success in terms of adoption rates. Their failures are due to myriad factors, highlighting the complexity of this problem. In the rural community of Yaxcabá, Mexico, most households use wood as a cooking fuel in small fire pits. As an alternative approach to this problem, we proposed a project to create an improved cook stoves based on dialogue with community members. We used a systems approach to analyze the large number of variables involved in the problem. Following participatory action research approach, we worked with 17 participants forming two groups in a process of self-diagnosis, design, construction and evaluation of two improved cook stoves models. The participants stated that the resulting improved cook stoves offered multiple advantages over previous devices, particularly in sociocultural, environmental and comfort aspects.

The world’s poor numbered almost 2.8 billion in 2001, and 2.5 billion in 2005. During a decade of participatory research in a village in Yucatan, Mexico, we built a systemic model of transition from poverty to wellbeing. Households are the basic units because they are the source of human biological and cultural reproduction. Poverty is characterized by low levels of basic needs (i.e. education, health, income and capital). We applied a strategy of innovation and multiple goals, and exploited interaction between variables, in successive approaches within time cycles. Model application improved child nutrition, investment and savings, and credits levels