38 p., Analyzes total factor productivity growth in agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1961 and 2007. The results show that among developing regions, Latin America and the Caribbean shows the highest agricultural productivity growth. The highest growth within the region has occurred in the last two decades, especially due to improvements in efficiency and the introduction of new technologies. Within the region, land-abundant countries consistently outperform land-constrained countries.
La Via Campesina asserts that sustainable, small-scale farming is more efficient at conserving and increasing biodiversity and forests than industrial agriculture.
Policies imposed on Haiti by international financial institutions (i.e., the World Bank and International Monetary Fund) since the 1980s, such as currency devaluation and trade liberalization, negated Haitian agricultural performance and the capacity of the Haitian state to manage the economy, thus exacerbating the current food crisis.
A trade accord spearheaded by the NAACP worth $1.5 billion between the Cuban government and black farmers was heralded on Nov 17, 2002 by the Rev Al Sampson, who called the accord an "international window of opportunity" for African Americans. Sampson, who works with African American farmers, said this agreement gives black farmers an "international window" through Cuba into the Caribbean.
Arias,Diego (Author), Brearley,Emily (Author), and Damais,Gilles (Author)
Format:
Pamphlet
Publication Date:
2006
Published:
Inter-American Development Bank
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
46 p., This paper deals with the coffee industry in Haiti. Coffee has traditionally played a unique role in rural Haiti, in economic, social and environmental terms. However, the competitiveness of the coffee sector of Haiti has been declining over recent years due to a combination of external and domestic factors. This study analyses the current situation and the opportunities and challenges presented for improving the competitiveness of the coffee sector in Haiti in a sustainable manner. It presents a public policy framework to guide the public support and interventions. It concludes that support should be provided to help the coffee sector supply chain reap the potential benefits from new market opportunities, protect key environmental services in upper watersheds, and set an example for other agriculture and rural productive activitiesin Haiti.
Part of a special journal issue dedicated to strategies for societal renewal in Haiti., Haiti spends 80 percent of its export earnings to import food that the nation's farmers could produce themselves. More than a third of Haiti's farmland is underutilized.
Congressman Charles B. Rangel (D-Harlem), who was instrumental in obtaining a license from the U.S. Treasury Department on behalf of the NAACP delegation for the trip to Cuba, hailed the planned trade link with Black farmers. Rangel said he considers the results of the NAACP's Cuba visit "an important breakthrough." Rangel is a longtime advocate of U.S. trade with Cuba, arguing that removal of the U.S. embargo would promote democracy in Cuba.
