Agricultural liberalisation aims to kick- start the rural economy and improve the livelihoods of rural people. By freeing market forces and discipline, efficiency should be raised and investment encouraged. The University of Reading’s Department of Agricultural and Food Economics examined four villages in Central Mexico, and asked how international, national and farm-level policies have impacted on the village households since 1988. Why are many rural dwellers in Mexico still poor? What has liberalisation done, if anything, for the villagers?