Informant38

Five hundred miles and a world away
Rice and maize are the staple diet of the Honduran poor, and just over 10 years ago, thanks to the toil of Maria and hundreds of small farmers, Honduras produced 100 per cent of its domestic rice needs.

Honduras, dubbed the "grain basket" of Central America, even had surpluses to export to neighbouring countries. Life was never easy, but the farmers could afford to send their children to school. Things changed in 1991, when the Honduran government - under pressure from the IMF - abolished import controls and threw the rice market wide open.

Liberalisation put the Honduran farmers at the mercy of big American rice producers who enjoy subsidies worth, we were told, 65 per cent of the production costs of rice in Honduras. Against such unfair competition Honduran rice production collapsed to just 1 per cent of domestic needs, with the gap filled by American imports.
�Patricia Hewitt Independent UK 09.14.03