Our approach to local development in Mexico

Eni Foundation - Improving access to primary health care services

In June 2022 the Eni Foundation signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health of the State of Tabasco to promote access to primary healthcare (PHC) services for the most vulnerable citizens in the municipality of Cárdenas. Activities under the MoU include upgrading the emergency care network and supplying medical and technological equipment, training all healthcare personnel, and implementing health education and information initiatives aimed at combating the most prevalent diseases in the area. At the end of 2024 an addendum extended the MoU until June 2026 and brought the new federal public health body IMSS - Bienestar on board. The expanded agreement will allow us to continue supporting the most vulnerable population in line with the ongoing reorganisation of the Mexican healthcare system. These initiatives, which have been carried out together with local institutions, underpin both the immediate and the medium- to long-term goals of the National Health Programme.

The importance of fishing for the economy

Fishing is one of the most significant activities for local communities. We support sea fishers with the delivery of fishing nets and outboard motors. We contribute to modernising their equipment and to reducing environmental impact, partly through knowledge shared during training courses on sustainable fishing organized to meet their needs.

For the sustainable management of fish resources in the Carmen-Pajonal-Machona lagoon, we are repopulating four native species to offset the loss of fish productivity and biodiversity. 

Oyster farming is also one of the primary activities in the Carmen-Pajonal-Machona lagoon system. This initiative began with the implementation of a first pilot phase, lasting one year, whose objective was to evaluate the growth potential of oysters when using Australian baskets compared to Japanese strings, which have been used traditionally for the cultivation of this mollusk.

The pilot phase produced favourable results, not only in terms of growth but also in aesthetic quality, size and weight. The oyster-farming groups involved have therefore been invited to adopt the new method, allocating some cultivation lines to the use of Australian baskets. Alongside the supply of materials, the initiative provides training and technical assistance from the Juárez Autonomous University of Tabasco, a recognised local institution. Finally, to achieve oyster health certification in the lagoon system, support is provided through continuous environmental monitoring and management with local authorities. The aim is to improve safety and hygiene, to make oyster production increasingly sustainable and offer more commercial possibilities.

Development and integration opportunities for young people in coastal communities of the Municipality of Cárdenas

Eni Mexico identified the need to assist the youth population of communities close to its operations, which faces problems related to inadequate access to vocational training, insufficient public recreative spaces, scarce work opportunities, and low participation in the public life of their communities.

To this end, we formulated a project to create an enabling environment for the development and integration of youth between the ages of 15 to 24 years, which covers the intervention in two specific areas:

• promote social integration and feeling of belonging through initiatives to increase the participation of young people in their communities
• improve the path to economic and personal autonomy of young people through technical and human formation.

The project’s activities, carried out in collaboration with AVSI Mexico, aim to engage young people in the coastal area of the Municipality of Cárdenas. Activities include the construction of a cultural and educational space in the main urban community of the zone, the acquisition of a mobile classroom for young people from remote communities, artistic, human and professional training initiatives, the creation of a youth network, and the establishment of committees (or other mechanisms of participation) and initiatives led by youth. 

Integrated, responsible, and sustainable approach to the coconut palm production and commercial chain

One of Eni Mexico’s social investment objectives is economic diversification. In the communities close to Contractual Area 1, Eni Mexico identified the primary sector as an opportunity arena, particularly coconut production, which has repeatedly been compromised by pests and disease and by the absence of a coordinated formal marketing strategy. For this reason, since mid-2023 a project has been under way focusing on three lines of action:

• technical: improve the productivity of coconut crops from a regenerative and sustainable approach
• economical: increase the sales of coconut through improved and strengthened strategies for coconut and ther derivatives
• social: improving sector cohesion, farming activity and working conditions in coconut processing through a collective efficiency approach. 

Collaboration Program with UNESCO

At the beginning of 2022 Eni Mexico signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNESCO which objective is to promote joint actions for the reduction and prevention of disasters, management and conservation of biodiversity, sustainable tourism, education for development and cultural promotion. Through this agreement the following initiatives have been implemented:

Museography and recovery of the main hall of La Venta Park Museum

Both activities aim to strengthen the museum’s educational, conservation, research and outreach functions for the benefit of local visitors and tourists, schools, the Municipality of Centro and the inhabitants of its municipal seat, Villahermosa.

Diagnosis of water security of the Mezcalapa-Samaria sub-basin

With the participation of the Regional Centre for Water Security (CERSHI), a Category 2 Centre under UNESCO’s patronage, this study seeks to lay the groundwork for a possible water security and integrated flood risk management plan to protect the communities in Tabasco living near the sub-basin.

Sustainable tourism opportunities

This initiative included a feasibility study on sustainable tourism opportunities in Villa y Puerto Coronel Andres Sanchez Magallanes. Its purpose is to identify the possibilities of promoting this activity as an alternative for economic diversification in the communities of the region, along with suggestions to preserve a social and environmental equilibrium from an intercultural, human rights and ethical perspective.