In response to Julio H's Comments about the impact of
NAFTA on Mexican farmers:
There has been a surprising and poorly appreciated
recuperation of Mexican rainfed (dryland) agriculture
that I have commented on before to Pen-L. The country
has unexpectedly recuperated self-sufficiency in white
corn production for human consumption in response to
an institutional restructuring of "dirt farmers"
(peasants) who have ceased selling much of their crop
as grain and instead are processing it themselves as
value added products, from (not so) simple tortillas
to other more elaborate products -- output increased
as much as 30% in five years, mostly the result of
significant increases in productivity; this occurred
along with the feminization of the labor force in
rural areas and other notable changes that have led to
the further diversification of income sources and
productive activites that has created a surprisingly
less crisis driven rural sector than confronts the
rest of the working poor in urban and periurban areas
-- These structural changes have NOT been incorporated
into the analyses of most macroeconomists, who tend to
shun developments in rural areas as irrelevant.