Traditional tortillas in Mexico.
Résumé
This chapter shows how the Urbal methodology revealed the asymmetries between the different actors involved in the Maizajo innovation in Mexico. The Maizajo initiative processes local native maize through nixtamalization. We successively explore the relationship between the producers and the promoters of the initiative, the centrality of its processing method—identified in the participatory workshop—the place of the stakeholders involved in the activity, and their (actual or potential) participation in the project. The analysis situates the innovation within a complex network of actors, a system that is the result of a networking and interactive-learning process involving a heterogeneous set of actors (such as producers, traders, processors, restaurants, researchers, civil society, organizations, and government officials). In this sense, the chapter contributes to reflection on the role of institutional change in the pursuit of innovation.