Agave monoculture and the human right to a healthy environment: a journey between economic prosperity and the violation of dignity

Abstract

This article analyzes intensive agave monoculture in Jalisco, Mexico, as a paradigmatic case of agricultural extractivism that structurally violates the human right to a healthy environment. Using the human rights unpacking method, the sub-rights involved (water, health, food, culture, biodiversity, participation) and the state's obligations to respect, protect, guarantee, and promote are broken down, showing how the expansion of agave cultivation—which grew by around 167% between 2014 and 2023 — translates into severe ecological degradation, vinasse pollution (in the order of 4 to 5 billion liters per year), water stress, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, and job insecurity.

It articulates contemporary human rights theories (Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum's capabilities approach; Jack Donnelly's conception of rights as universalizable ethical claims), the unpacking method developed by human rights organizations, and sustainable development and ecological economics frameworks. It also integrates the national and international legal framework, such as the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection, the obligations derived from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Advisory Opinion OC 23/17 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, UN General Assembly Resolution 76/300 on the right to a healthy environment, and the Escazú Agreement on participation and environmental justice.

It is evident that the agave model, far from being an example of “rural development,” reproduces global patterns of agricultural extractivism (similar to soybeans in Argentina or African palm in Colombia), generates distributive and representational injustices, and is ecologically and socially unsustainable. Based on this diagnosis, regulatory and institutional changes are proposed aimed at: integrating binding environmental and social criteria into tequila regulation, strengthening agricultural environmental impact assessments, protecting water recharge areas and fragile ecosystems, moving towards a progressive ban on glyphosate, guaranteeing decent work, strengthening agroecology and productive diversification, and democratizing territorial governance in line with Ostrom's principles and the Escazú Agreement.

The study concludes that the future viability of the tequila industry depends on its ability to transition from an extractive model to one that is truly sustainable and respectful of human rights.