Still the farmers are not rigidly opposed to the new agriculture. 'We do not object to the idea of earning foreign exchange from new products,' says Carlos Campos, executive secretary of the Union of Small Producers of the Atlantic. The problem, he says, is that most Costa Ricans don't share in the benefits. 'Look at the Atlantic Coast; where there used to be small farmers there are now transnational companies.'
What angers Campos most is that the new agriculture jeopardizes Costa Rica's 'food sovereignty'. His country has the potential to easily meet all but a few of its food needs. Yet recently Costa Rica has begun to import staple items like rice, beans and corn.
The World Bank and other agencies argue that these crops can be grown more efficiently in the US. They contend that as long as flowers or strawberries earn higher prices, there's a foreign-exchange advantage in exporting them and importing food. Carlos Campos doesn't buy it. 'We have,' he says, 'a slogan: "We don't eat flowers, we eat beans". We cannot sacrifice our meals, our independence, our dignity for a few dollars.'
Analysts point to other weak points in the non-traditional exports strategy. Most of the new agro-exports are 'dessert' crops, items which are often the first to suffer consumer cut-backs during a recession. A recession would also increase protectionist barriers.
There is also the potential problem of surplus supply. Virtually all the nations of Central America and many in the Caribbean are following the same agroexport strategy - often with the same crops. But how many snow peas can Americans eat? According to one estimate Central America and the Caribbean could easily supply a market ten times the size of the US in many of the new crops.
'Economic growth is the cornerstone of successful development and poverty reduction. The precondition for restoring growth in many countries is structural adjustment. In fact, the poor benefit from restructuring.'
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