Agricultural Exports, Poverty and Ecological Crisis: Case Study of Central American Countries

At the roots of socio-economic and ecological crisis in the Central American countries are development policies that have favoured agricultural production for export over production for local needs and intensive exploitation of natural resources for foreign exchange and short-term profit rather than for sustainable use. Such policies favoured large landowners, foreign corporations and banks over the majority of the people of Central America. The Central American development experience could provide a useful lesson for other third world countries.