a1623: BBC: Haiti: proof of hypocrisy (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Robert Benodin <r.benodin@worldnet.att.net>

Haiti: proof of hypocrisy
The Guardian - United Kingdom; Apr 11, 2002


Farmers in Haiti have had their livelihood destroyed by competition from
subsidised American rice, Charlotte Denny writes
Under the dictates of the World Bank and IMF, Haiti began a programme of
rapid trade liberalisation in the 1980s. The import tariff on rice, the
staple crop of Haiti's largely rural population, was cut from 50% to 3%,
opening the country to a flood of cheap US imports.
At the beginning of 1990, the country was nearly self-sufficient in rice. By
the end of the decade, production had halved and subsidised imports from the
US accounted for more than half the local rice sales.
Oxfam says that while the urban population has benefited from cheaper food,
the results have been devastating for the farmers. More than half the
Haitian children are malnourished and 80% of the rural population lives
below the poverty line.
"In many ways it is Haiti which stands out as the star pupil of the IMF and
World Bank," the report says.
"The poorest country on the UN rankings of human development, in 1986 it
joined the super league of trade liberalisers.
"The transition has had appalling consequences for poor people, but the
country is still praised by the World Bank as a strong reformer."
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