Proponents of globalization say the answer is no, because the self-interest of businesses lies in improving wages and productivity. "Done properly, corporations create a better environment for the future and for the lives of the people than does a sort of black market, shark-infested development that doesn't have controls," said Mr. Jones, the British executive.
But the counterargument is that no land can develop itself by supplying the capricious demands of distant foreigners while its own people are simply too poor to provide the demand for goods needed to develop their own economy.
Around here, that much is evident: on the roadside markets that have sprung up around the horticulture business, traders sell school bags for children and plastic drums for carrying water. You can repair a punctured bicycle tire or buy a beer in gimcrack bars like the Millennium Florida Bar or South Lake Klub. Red roses and cellophane-wrapped snow peas do not seem part of the offering.
"Relying on external consumption as a means of spurring economic growth is a fallacy," said Mr. Oumo, the human rights activist and economist. "You must put workers in a position to earn higher salaries."
But how do people earn more before they produce more? That, Mr. Oumo said, "is like the old question of the chicken and the egg."