Designed for the Business Traveler
Beautifully appointed suites with high-bandwidth internet access, computer desk, safe, 3 direct-dial telephones, bar and kitchenette with fully stocked pantry. 

Congress approves funding for increased mango production

Incentives for increased mango production approved by Congress

By IXCHEL GRANADA

TEGUCIGALPA -- In Congress this week the Secretary of Agriculture and Ranching introduced a bill that would authorize the participation of both the State and private business in the exportation of mango to international markets.

In light of the economic plight of the nation following Hurricane Mitch, whose effects on the Honduran economy are still reverberating, it seems necessary to expand agricultural activity once a demand and market has been identified.

Mangos are a national export principally produced in the Valley of Comayagua, a region situated just north of the capital city of Tegucigalpa and renowned for its fertile valleys and productive soils. Therefore the bill pertains primarily to this region although initiatives are being taken to expand production to various other areas. 

The bill introduced this week makes the following points: The Secretary of Agriculture and Ranching has proposed the diversification of agriculture in the principle agricultural zones of the country, including the regions of Valle de Comayagua and its adjacent zones; The regions mentioned above cultivate mangos on a large scale. This agricultural product is in high demand particularly in the European market where it is exported to in great numbers. It is projected that the United States will soon harbor a demand equal to or greater than that of the European market; Through support provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, a hydrothermal treatment plant, valued at approximately 21 million lempiras, was donated to the program. A treatment plant helps to comply with the basic food safety and sanitation requirements. 

All fruit products are submitted to a hydrothermal process in order to thoroughly sanitize the product for exchange, transport and human consumption. In exchange, and with the approval of Congress, the Secretary of Agriculture and Ranching will donate a piece of government land to the program. 

The decree will also authorize the executive branch to provide incentives for the production and commercialization of mangos on a national and international scale. This may include technical and financial assistance to producers as well as future aid in acquiring technologies. 

Programa del Mango de Honduras, Sociedad Anonima De Capital Variable, or the Mango Program of Honduras is the organization formed to promote mango production as well as responsible for the future management of the enterprise. It will be referred to commercially as “Pro Mango, S.A. de C.V “ and will have at its disposal an undisclosed amount of funds whose dividends should be used as capital for loans and other mango related micro-enterprises. It is the hoped the program will stimulate a depressed economy.

Find out how to advertise
in HTW Online and increase traffic to your website.

Failure of the neoliberal economic model - possibilities for Honduras

By PETER BREWINGTON

The neoliberal economic model is a failure. This is the conclusion of most of the participants of the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and the time to build alternatives is now. The failure of this model can be seen in a world in which inequality among the rich and poor, individuals and nations, is growing steadily. 

The poorest of the poor, those unable to meet even the most basic needs, are a growing population, with no change in sight. One need only look to the coffee producing regions of Honduras and Nicaragua to see families that are suffering from the failures of neoliberal policies. The plunging prices in the world coffee market has been attributed to the entrance of Vietnam and other countries as coffee producing nations, a cash export crop encouraged by the policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. They failed however to consider how this overproduction would affect other countries, and especially small producers.

In addition, neoliberal economic models fail to account for social and environmental needs. Through the use of trade organizations, particularly the World Trade Organization, the extraction of natural resources from small countries such as Honduras for the use of wealthier countries is encouraged and even mandated by the need to repay large debts. In Honduras, the foreign debt is billions of dollars, and simply the payment of the interest on these loans is a burden on a system that could conceivably use those resources in programs of poverty reduction, health and education. Another consequence of neoliberal economic globalization is the weakening of local systems of sustainable manufacturing, agriculture and commerce. 

Local companies and small producers cannot compete with large transnational corporations on a "level playing field", as called for in current trade negotiations, because the playing field is not level to begin with. Therefore, local economies are weakened, local producers are unable to compete with the economies of scale of huge corporations, and greater dependency is produced. Vandana Shiva, and internationally known Indian physicist and activist, refers to neoliberal and corporate economic globalization as "an attack on self-sufficiency." She suggests a globalization of compassion and caring, in place of a globalization of greed and theft.

The history of Chiquita in Honduras is an example of the need to hold transnational corporations more accountable in their business practices, and that the current expectation of self-regulation is not reasonable. Chiquita's questionable business practices were documented in an investigative report done by the Cincinnati Enquirer, and is available online at the web page http://bananas.agoranet.be/ChiquitaSecretsRevealed.htm. The report was pulled due to some questionable methods employed by the reporters, but the content of the report was never questioned. Corporations are growing in power and influence; their budgets are larger than those of many nations. Of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are corporations. And corporations continue with little accountability in the countries in which they operate.

The best hope for developing nations, and for Honduras, is a better-educated populace and an active civil society. People must educate themselves about these issues, their effects locally, nationally, and internationally, and be prepared to apply pressure so that their needs and the needs of the poorest citizens are considered with as much or more importance as the needs of transnational corporations. This is not a fast process, but these issues are too important to leave only to politicians, economists and businesspeople.

Find out how to advertise
in HTW Online and increase traffic to your website.