台灣農會對墨西哥農業的啟示

Abstract

On January 31st, 2003, thousands of Mexican farmers took Mexico City streets in angry protest. Marching under the slogan: “The countryside cannot take it anymore!” the farmers were complaining for fifteen years of poverty and marginalization. Since the 1990s Mexico has approved several neoliberal reforms in the constitution. In 1994, Mexico, the United States, and Canada signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. After fifteen years, the farmers demanded that the agricultural chapter be renegotiated, a guaranteed living wage, and that their contribution to national food security be recognized. The Mexican agriculture industry is characterized by the development and growth economy in northern states, based on agribusiness and big companies; however, the vulnerability in southern states is exposed by the poorest Mexican farmers. “The main problem is that there is not an organization at national level that can provide help to all Mexican farmers. Having as a result more developed northern states than the southern states”. This research presents a generalized economic model to develop a new Farmers’ Association system in Mexico, in order to reduce the gap between poor and wealthy farmers in rural Mexico. Moreover, the creation of a new farmers’ association in Mexico will contribute to the development of agricultural marketing and finance. In reality it is difficult to implement a new FAs system based on political, economical, and social differences that co-exist within Mexico. Moreover, there is also the resistance from government and farmers who are unprepared to improve the current agricultural cooperatives in Mexico, and change it into a Farmers’ Association at national level. However, it is worthy to study and analyze the Taiwan agricultural development (a successful case) based on cooperation among farmers and the final outcome of implementing a farmers’ association.