Tourism Microentrepreneurship and Land Stewardship In a Tz'utujil Mayan Coffee Community

Abstract

This study examines how livelihood diversification through tourism microentrepreneurship may shape land stewardship among Mayan coffee farmers in Guatemala. Through a primarily qualitative approach assessing ecoliteracy and motivations towards environmental behaviors, data were collected among participants self-identifying as small-scale shade-grown coffee farmers involved in tourism microentrepreneurship in the community of San Juan la Laguna in Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. We found that, when facilitated through cooperatives, tourism microentrepreneurship and coffee farming jointly contributed to land stewardship and provided an opportunity for indigenous farmers to foster traditional relationships with the land.