About Valiana
Gathering of Mayan women for agroecology and food justice

Instagram: @valiana_aguilar
Location: Sinanché, Yucatán, Mexico

Valiana Alejandra Aguilar Hernández is originally from Sinanché, Yucatán, Mexico. A Maya campesina, fermenter, and guardian of melipona bees, she chooses to remain in her community as an act of resistance against the forced displacement affecting coastal peoples.

For Valiana, the land is not just a stretch of soil — it is the space where memory, history, and community bonds are protected. It is where roots and ways of life are woven together, sustaining identity and dignity. To defend it is to defend life itself and the possibility of a future for the next generations.

“Each day that I inhabit these ancestral lands, they whisper to me that we must resist, that the Earth can heal if we find the ways to regenerate both the soil and our history in the present.”
Valiana Aguilar

For her, climate justice recognises that the ecological crisis does not affect everyone equally. Those who have least harmed the Earth — Indigenous peoples, rural communities, women and children — are often those who suffer the most. Climate justice is about creating social, political, and economic conditions that allow young people to remain in and defend their land, while caring for life as an act of dignity and love. It is about healing the relationship with Mother Earth, defending water, air, and forests, and ensuring future generations walk the world with hope.

Valiana’s project 

In Sinanché, Yucatán, Maya peasant women face the effects of an imposed agroindustrial model that displaces traditional food systems, harms community health, and silences their knowledge and leadership. These women are central to food production and cultural knowledge, yet their voices are often excluded from decisions about food and land.

This project will bring together 25 Maya peasant women from 9 Indigenous collectives in a regional gathering focused on agroecology and food justice. Through workshops, exchanges, and collaborative activities, participants will strengthen their skills, recover ancestral knowledge, and build a supportive network that promotes collective action for food sovereignty and climate justice.

By generating their own narratives, documenting traditional practices, and consolidating regional networks, the women will reclaim their role in defending land, life, and dignified food production. The project fosters visibility, coordination, and advocacy from an Indigenous and feminist perspective, empowering Maya peasant women to lead change in their communities and strengthen long-term food justice in the Yucatán Peninsula.

Learn more about the Amos Climate Fellowship →