A Cautionary Tale: Failed U.S. Development Policy in Central America .

Neither structural adjustment policies, nor industrialization, nor traditional agricultural exports have led to sustained economic growth and social equity in Central America. Seeking to reinvigorate the region's struggling economies, U.S. AID—supported by the World Bank and the IMF—designed a new development policy, one based on nontraditional agricultural exports. Crops ranging from passion fruit and broccoli to macadamia nuts and melons have been vigorously promoted through massive foreign aid and fierce pressure on local governments. This book dissects the varied impacts of a decade of this central AID policy—impacts on the environment, on the livelihoods of thousands of small farmers, and on the sovereignty of elected governments. An anatomy of failure, of a policy gamble run amuck, the book is a cautionary tale that is must reading for scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and students of international development and U.S. foreign policy. The ‘Multinational Monitor says, “This book, with its broad perspective and sensible solutions, offers a compelling approach for reducing the traumatic consequences of sudden agricultural adjustments. A Cautionary Tale presents a viable alternative to Central American farmers’ dismal Grapes of Wrath experience over the past decade." Michael E. Conroy is director of the Latin American Economic Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin. Douglas L. Murray is associate professor of sociology at Colorado State University. Peter M. Rosset is executive director of the Institute for Food and Development Policy (Food First) in Oakland, California.