The Restructuring of Third World Argo-exports: Changing production relations in Dominican Republic

1. The Restructuring of Third World Argo-exports: Changing production relations in Dominican Republic By: Laura T. Raynolds Presentation by: Huan,Wei

2. Introduction • History of export agriculture in Third world • Mid-1970: The widespread of nontraditional agriculture and the breakdown of traditional agricultural export sectors. This is the result of an active political project of export substitution pursued by Third World states with the strong, in some cases coercive, backing of international institution. • The essay analyzes one such process of agricultural restructuring in the Dominican Republic where fresh fruit and vegetable exports have been promoted to compensate for falling traditional agricultural export revenues.

3. Restructuring of Latin American Export Agriculture • The Focus of debate move from a discussion of the new international division of labor to an analysis of processes of internationalization • Most insightful contemporary debate shift to National and international restructuring of agriculture. • An insightful approach: political economy framework.

4. The Demise of the Traditional Agricultural Export Sector • Low-value, undifferentiated agricultural export commodities. • Local economy dominated by sugar, coffee, coca, tobacco. • Declined during 1980.(see tables below)

6. Reasons • overall decline in the demand for sugar in First World countries as a result of increased health concerns and large-scale substitution of sugar. • Increase in the protectionist policies adopted by First World countries in a effort to retain a substantial high priced market for domestic sugar producer. • Excess productive capacity and heightened international competition.

7. The Recent Rise of Nontraditional Agricultural Exports • Result of internal political economic conditions • Shifting U.S policies toward the Caribbean in the 1980s played an important role. • The growth of nontraditional agricultural exports in the first half of the 1980s is most directly linked to Dominican’s substantial foreign debt • Internationally sponsored structural adjustment program reduced state support for the production of basic foods for the local market and encouraged agricultural export production.

8. Most direct support to the Dominican’s nontraditional agricultural sector is from the inexpensive rental of state land.

9. The production of Nontraditional Agricultural Export • Key area of growth in the nontraditional agricultural export sector in the 1980s was in fresh produce—tropical fruits, vegetables and horticultural crops and tropical root crops. • Fresh fruit and vegetables destined for export are not usually purchase on the open market because of their perish ability and the need for extensive coordination in production, shipping and marketing. • One of the most important and rapidly growing areas in this form of production is the production of pineapple: From 1% in 1980 to 14% in 1989 of total value.

10. Conclusion • The country has experienced a very important shift from a dependence on colonial-based agricultural export to a more diversified export economy in which nontraditional agricultural and agro-industrial commodities play a major role.