#2072: Re: #2063/ Re: #2032/Free trade and Haiti: Heinl asks..... (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:MHeinl@aol.com

The discussion has been informed and learned. In the short term, though, with 
achievable measures, is there any way that Haiti could realistically grow 
enough to even meet 50% of its needs? I'm sure that if the Artibonite (also 
Plaine du Nord, Plaine du Sud) were organized so that the inefficiencies of 
small scale farming were reduced,  hillsides terraced, land disputes 
resolved, the numbers would improve, but these are all MEDIUM if not LONG 
TERM measures. Even more basically, IF all these giant steps were achieved 
and Haiti became as agriculturally efficient as China or India, would the 
output be enough to meet its needs? There must be some hard numbers somewhere.

The urban dweller, already pushed to the wall, would have little sympathy 
with the argument that he was paying more for rice or whatever so that his 
brother in the Artibonite could survive. A depressing prospect.

Michael Heinl