|
Name: Porfirio
Country: Nicaragua
Porfirio lives in a rural community outside of Managua and supports his family by growing beans to eat and sell.
Porfirio |
Porfirio spends most of his day tending to his beans. His crop is highly labor-intensive, and it requires his work as well as the help of his two oldest sons, ages sixteen and fourteen. When he is able to spend time with his family, he and his wife work on maintaining their house and raising all five of their children. Porfirio is also involved in the decision process meetings of his farming community.
What affect will CAFTA have?
Under the free trade model, Porfirio will not be able to get a decent price for his beans. The cheapest beans at the market in Managua are imported from the US where the average farming agribusiness receives $21,000 a year in subsidies from the US government. Under free trade it is impossible for Porfirio's beans to compete against corporate agribusiness in the US, where the price of production is lowered by access to technology and subsides, because he can't even get a loan to help cover the costs of planting. After producing beans his entire life, Porfirio has been told that the best way for him to compete in the free market (under CAFTA) is to produce sesame, an export crop. Commercial banks will loan him money to plant sesame, but not beans. His success will be dependent on the whims of the international market. When international sesame prices fall, Porfirio will not be able to sell his sesame. He will have no money to buy food for his family, and his family can't survive eating sesame. He may have to sell his land and become one more unemployed person desperately looking for work in the cities or migrating to a wealthy country.
Back to Faces of Trade homepage
Up to Top
HOME |
Email Signup |
About Us |
Contact Us |
Terms of Use |
© 2008 Sierra Club
|
