Stolen fruit : the tropical commodities disaster
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Stolen fruit : the tropical commodities disaster
Zed Books, 2003
- cased
- limp
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 178-180) and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
cased ISBN 9781842772805
Description
Fifty or more developing countries still depend mainly on the tropical commodities or minerals that they produce. But encouraging so many countries to grow coffee, sugar, cotton and other crops has been a disaster. Small farmers get only a tiny share of the final tag on these commodities on supermarket shelves in the North. Prices have collapsed, terms of trade between North and South have widened, and foreign exchange earnings, tax revenues, and economic growth in developing countries have plummeted. Here, Peter Robbins examines how this situation came about, the current trading arrangements and the possible ways forward. He argues that, if developing countries are to measure up to the scale of the disaster facing them, they must take a leaf out of supply side economics, and take the measures to bring supply and demand into a balance that will secure them far higher and more stable prices.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1 Winners and losers The scale of the decline in tropical commodity prices Estimating the loss The importance of tropical commodities The beneficiaries of the crisis The cause of the price collapse The way forward 2 A brief history of commodities in developing countries Independence Structural adjustment programmes Globalisation 3 Failing strategies Technical fixes Achieving higher yields Market linked schemes Useful innovations Conclusion 4 Controlling supplies and taming the markets Naming the actors Bringing the parties together How the plan might work Investing in processing Where to start? Enforcing the agreements Covering the cost Commodities with a wider growing area Flexibility and dynamism Conclusion 5 The benefits of supply management Boosting prices Targeting increased wealth Releasing land for food production Using price rises wisely Assisting the democratic process Autonomy Benefits to developed countries Changing trade rules to fight poverty 6 International rules affecting supply management programmes The role of the WTO Democracy and the WTO 7 The task begins The Oxfam initiative Coffee - the best candidate The WTO initiative 8 The face of opposition The main opposing arguments 9 A personal account Annexes, Sources and bibliography, Index, Tables
- Volume
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limp ISBN 9781842772812
Description
Fifty or more developing countries still depend mainly on the tropical commodities or minerals that they produce. But encouraging so many countries to grow coffee, sugar, cotton and other crops has been a disaster. Small farmers get only a tiny share of the final tag on these commodities on supermarket shelves in the North. Prices have collapsed, terms of trade between North and South have widened, and foreign exchange earnings, tax revenues, and economic growth in developing countries have plummeted. Peter Robbins examines how this situation came about, the current trading arrangements and the possible ways forward. He argues that, if developing countries are to measure up to the scale of the disaster facing them, they must take a leaf out of supply side economics, and take the measures to bring supply and demand into a balance that will secure them far higher and more stable prices.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Winners and losers
2. A brief history of commodities in developing countries
3. Failing strategies
4. Controlling supplies and taming markets
5. The benefits of supply management
6. International rules affecting supply management programmes
7. The task begins
8. The face of opposition
9. A personal account
Annexes:
1. How tropical commodities are traded
2. The uses of tropical commodities in the modern world
Sources and bibliography
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"
