RURAL POVERTY AND THE PROBLEM OF INCREASING FOOD PRODUCTION ON SMALL FARMS: THE CASE OF COLOMBIA

This paper (1) surveys the extent of rural poverty in Colombia, (2) examines some of the poverty related problems standing in the way of raising food output on small farms, and (3) addresses these problems with some suggestions for decision-makers. A basic premise of this paper is that a more comprehensive understanding of the conditions of poverty at the farm level is of paramount importance in determining the relevance and potential success of strategies aimed at solving the causes of the food problem

Latinos and Afro-Latino Legacy in the United States: HIstory, Culture, and Issues of Identity

Introduction Since my first visit to the campus in 1992, I have looked forward to this event. Tuskegee University is a world famous campus with many firsts in science and higher education. And it gives me great pleasure to speak about Latinos and Afro-Latinos. My presentation has three objectives: first, to address the historical origins, and challenges facing U.S. Latinos; second, to expand on the national interest in U.S. Latinos and the surfacing issues of our relations with African-Americans, and, third, to advocate coalition building and suggest ways of working together. I wish to begin by citing a few caveats from Earl Shorris, author of Latinos: A Biography of the People, (New York: W.W. Norton Co., 1992): First, according to Shorris: “Any history of Latinos stumbles at the start, for there is no single line to trace back to its ultimate origin.” This statement reminds us that the historic origins of Hispanics and Latinos have many roots and branches. As such, the issue of our identity depends a lot on where our story begins and our knowledge of history. Second, Shorris stated: “Latino history has become a confused and painful algebra of race, culture, and conquest, it has less to do with evidence than with politics, for whoever owns the beginning has dignity, whoever owns the beginning owns the world.” Shorris reminds us that speeches like mine are assertions of pride and essentially political, i.e., presented with a desire to persuade and convince of a particular viewpoint or position about Latinos and Hispanics. He is correct about “dignity” and it is clearly my intent to show the historic “firsts” of U.S. Latinos. I should add that the Center I head is currently aimed at enhancing Latino heritage within the Smithsonian’s exhibitions and collections of its 16 museums and galleries of history, art, science, air and space and the National Zoo and research centers. In fact, I am on a mission to address a scathing report entitled: “Willful Neglect: The Smithsonian Institution and U.S. Latinos” (Smithsonian, 1994). The report concluded: “[the] Institution almost entirely excludes and ignores the Latino population in the United States. This lack of inclusion is glaringly obvious in the lack of a museum facility focusing on Latino or Latin American art, culture or history; the near-absence of permanent Latino exhibitions or programming; the very small number of Latino staff, and the minimal number of curatorial or managerial positions; and the almost total lack of Latino representation in the governance structure. It is difficult for the Task Force to understand how such a consistent pattern of Latino exclusion from the work of the Smithsonian could have occurred without willful neglect.” I mention “willful neglect” to assert my belief that politics and dignity play a big role in my work and comments, “… for whoever owns the beginning [of history] has dignity, whoever owns the beginning owns the world.” But, quoting from another caveat from Shorris: Third, “according to the rules of conquest, the blood of the conquered dominates, but the rules are not profound, they are written on the skin.” Shorris reminds us that every version of history has its adherents. Every history that is taught evokes the bias of the dominant group. He also intimates that white Americans have their version of history. Likewise, black Americans have their own version of history. That is the result of a race conscious society. But a question also raised is: “If people are brown, “multi-racial” - what part of their racial make-up dominates their history?” Do Latinos relate their identity to race and racial treatment? Are brown people more white oriented than black? What’s “written on the skin,” of Latinos? If, for example, a Latino appears to be European, what history will they choose? Will the history be of the “dignified” or the “conquered?

Farm Credit and the Response of Reform Beneficiaries: The Case of Agrarian Reform in El Salvador

El Salvador's agrarian reform cooperatives, which were created in March 1980, have received substantial credit through the Revolutionary Junta Government's nationalized banking system and its Institute for Agrarian Transformation (ISTA). Some 43 million was extended on an "emergency" basis in the first months of the reform in 1980, and it is still unclear what some of the money was used for. Much of it is still unpaid and accumulating penalty interest each year it is refinanced. Some 251 Phase I cooperatives currently receive production credit from banks; the Banco de Fomento Agropecuario (BFA) serves the largest number and is the bank responsible for lending to cooperatives that have severe problems. In general, the commercial banks lend to cooperatives that farm land whose former owner dealt with those banks, and they report generally good repayment by these cooperatives. Overall, about 76 percent of the production loans made to Phase I cooperatives in 1980 and 1981 were repaid, which is better than the record of other Latin American land reforms and also better than the repayment record of non-reform private landowner borrowers in El Salvador. As world interest rates have fallen, these production loans do not appear subsidized, at interest rates around 13 percent. An important link in the loan collection process is the marketing agency, and cooperatives generally sell export crops and basic grains to government marketing intermediaries. The loan repayment is deducted automatically in these cases. However, coffee growers (reform and others alike) are quite unhappy that the coffee marketing institute (INCAFE) makes them wait for payment for more than a year after they harvest the coffee. Detailed studies of the ability of a sample of Phase I cooperatives to pay their debts, including the land debt which they owe (like a mortgage), indicate that many cooperatives can make a profit on current production. They often have problems covering the interest, let alone prinicpal, of the 1980 "emergency" initial loans. On the other hand, several cooperatives cannot realistically expect to cover principal and 7.5 percent annual interest on the value of the land established by ISTA when it compensated the ex-owner. In some cases, it appears that land values declared by owners in 1976 and 1977 were greater than the true value of the land for production purposes. But further study is needed in this area. Management appears to be a limiting factor in the ability of Phase I cooperatives to earn profits in the future

ILLEGAL ALIENS IN AGRICULTURE: SOME-THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS

In this decade the illegal alien has been a major newsworthy item; described in terms such as an "invasion of illegal aliens," a "national disaster" and a "burden of $13 billion for taxpayers" (Bustamante, 1976). It happened before during the Great Depression of the 1930's when active and open opposition to Mexican workers in the United States forced the harsh repatriation and "voluntary" departures. of over 400,000 Mexican aliens (Hoffman). The issue over the so-called "wetbacks" came up in the early 1950' s when the claim was made by Mexican-American organizations in border towns that illegals adversely effected wages and working conditions (Samora and Bustamante)