2. A 3rd World Perspective - “3rd world governments are not simply de-regulating national economies and policies, they are trying to restructure local economies to accommodate change in the world economic and political conditions” - Since the mid 1970’s the world has seen many countries shift to non-traditional agricultural exports- it should not be seen simply as a reaction to the “market”, but as “a result of an active political project of export substitution pursued by 3rd world states with strong backing from international institutions.”

3. Laura Raynold’s Article: Laura’s article analyzes this “process” of restructuring the Dominican Republic’s agricultural sector. The Dominican Republic has increased production of fresh fruit and vegetable’s for export to compensate for the falling traditional agricultural exports. (sugar) The problem with this shift to non-traditional export is that the switch is to a new market, and the production to non-traditional exports has the potential to be highly unstable. This has been the case for the Dominican Republic as Laura presents.

4. -Improvements in transportation, preservation, and communication systems during the 1960’s allowed for geographical separation of agricultural production from major consumer markets and encouraged the growth of new agricultural exports. “Latin America witnessed the rapid growth of beef, fruit, and vegetable exports to satisfy North American appetites and a boom in flower exports to adorn Northern dinner tables.”

5. -Understanding the situation of countries negative movements towards debt is a key analysis factor according to Laura. It needs to be looked at in order to understand the internationalization of agriculture. The reason being is the current debt of a country tends to be a factor in changing/”shaping” agricultural policies and exports. (as was the situation throughout Latin America) “The autonomy of Latin American states typically is considered to be undermined by the spread of international commodity markets, the increasing power of transnational corporations and institutions, and the global impacts of policy decisions in the First World” (e.g., Barkin 1987, Teubal 1987, Sanderson 1989)

6. “The Local economy has been dominated for centuries by the production of sugar, and to a lesser extent, coffee, cocoa, and tobacco for sale in, first, European and, then later, North American markets. The Dominican Republic has been a classic case of what is often referred to as a dependent agricultural export economy- where the national economy is dominated by a few primary products that are produced on the basis of extensive foreign investment and are destined for metropolitan markets- or more specifically in the Caribbean literature as a plantation economy revolving around the production of sugar”

8. 1. Overall decline in the demand for sugar in the 1st world countries as a result of increase health concerns, and large scale substitution of sugar for high-fructose corn sweeteners and low-calorie alternatives. 2. Increase in the protectionist policies adopted by 1st world countries in an effort to retain a substantial, and high-priced market for domestic sugar producers 3. Dramatic declines in world sugar prices in the mid-80’s resulting from excess productive capacity and more international competition

9. “The growth of nontraditional agricultural exports in the first half of the 1980’s is most directly linked to intensive pressure on the Dominican state from international financial institutions concerned with the country’s substantial foreign debt.” “As in much of Latin America, the deepening of the debt crisis in the Dominican Republic necessitated the re-orientation of state policies according to the new monetarist/trade liberation approach championed by the IMF and the World Bank (Wood 1989). This approach emphasizes reducing state spending and stimulating private sector investments, particularly in exports, as the way to increase economic growth and debt repayment.”

10. “ The International sponsored structural adjustment program reduced state support for the production of basic foods for the local market and encouraged agricultural export production. ” Export Promotion Law (# no. 69)- Benefits nontraditional agricultural and industrial exporters, providing incentive payments and import duty exemptions on materials used in the production of export commodities. Agro-Industrial Law (# no. 409)- To lead the industrialization of traditional agriculture and the integration of agro-industrial complexes. The law grants income tax and import duty exonerations from 40-100% to firms involved in the production of agricultural commodities that are standardized, packaged, or processed- in other words all non-traditional agricultural exports, as well as agro- industrial products for domestic and foreign markets.

11. The key area of growth in the non-traditional agricultural export sector in the 1980’s was in fresh produce- particularly tropical fruits, vegetables and horticultural crops, and tropical root crops. 2 models- Out-grower and Plantation

12. -Growers are contracted to produce commodities on their own land. Out-grower model is characterized by a large number of small firms that limit their fixed investments and maximize their production flexibility by contracting with peasant growers to produce non-traditional commodities. This contracting system is commonly utilized in the Dominican Republic in the production of agronomically sensitive and labor-intensive horticultural crops, since the exporting firm is thus able to shift a large portion of the high production risks and costs onto peasant producers.

13. -2nd major model used in the production of nontraditional agricultural export commodities in the Dominican Republic New plantations have higher fixed costs over enterprises using contract production systems, pineapple corporations maintain a great deal of flexibility through their global sourcing operations. By maintaining subsidiaries in diverse locations- including Hawaii, Thailand, the Philippines, Guatemala, and Honduras- Chiquita and Dole can guarantee access to the lowest cost produce, as well as compensate for natural crop fluctuations.