Objective:

To determine: a) if coffee plantations were significantly abandoned in the ejido San Vicente de Benítez, in the state of Guerrero, Mexico, and b) to estimate if the financial incentives granted by the Payment for Environmental Services Program (PES) to households have assisted the continuity and the maintenance activities of coffee plantations in the same ejido.

Methodology:

Twelve semi-structured interviews with the ejido's authorities and field observations during an exploratory phase were done. Afterward, questionnaires were applied in 64 households in the ejido.

Results:

During the period studied (years 2012 to 2016), it is estimated that 8% of the families out-migrated and sold their coffee plantations before leaving to other families who did not abandon the coffee plants altogether. The families that stayed did not sell their coffee plots. The substitution of coffee plantations for other crops was less than 1%. Coffee maintenance practices diminished, particularly among households with higher coffee acreage. In some years, the area that each household treated against coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix) and the amount of family labor applied in the weeding of plots had a direct and significant statistical relationship to the amount of PES that each family received. However, this amount was not related to pruned, renewed, and weeded areas, or paid labor hired for cleaning. Besides, the PES scheme favored compliance with community rules that protect shade trees.

Limits:

The number of families that have out-migrated could not be accurately determined.

Conclusions:

The results suggest that the PES Program favored the continuity of the ejido's coffee plantations and, hence, the continuity of the environmental services they provide.

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