Thailand and the World Tomato: Globalization, New Agricultural Countries (NACs) and the Agrarian Question
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
Abstract
In this article we explore the genesis and character of the so called “new agricultural countries” (NACs), focusing on Thailand and its tomato industry in particular. We begin with a brief overview of the rise and character of the NACs, turning then to the Thai case and its peculiarities and form. We examine various dimensions of the rise of high value foods (HVF), globalization, turmoil and growth in the agro-food economy. We ask the general question of how and in what senses the NACs are genuinely global in their agro-food sectors, in terms of production and institutional relationships. These questions are explored in detail using a survey of contract farmers in the Isaan region of northeast Thailand. These are small, peasant farmers who produce hybrid tomato seeds and/or processing tomatoes, for both the transnational seed industry and domestic buyers. We end by situating our findings about the agro-food industry and contract farming within a discussion of Kautsky’s “agrarian question” of a century ago.
How to Cite
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Asian Agribusiness. 1987. “Tomato paste factory for Thailand.” 4(4), July/August:5.
Becker, Truman 1989. “Asia’s Most Modern Tomato Paste Factory.” ADB Quarterly Review (Asian Development Bank), January:11-13.
Bello, Walden, Shea Cunningham and Li Kheng Poh. 1998. A Siamese Tragedy: Development and Disintegration in Modern Thailand. London and Oakland: Zed and Food First Books.
Bonanno, Alessandro, Lawrence Busch, William Friedland, Lourdes Gouveia and Enzo Mingione, eds. 1994. From Columbus to ConAgra: The Globalization of Agriculture and Food. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
Boontawee, Kampoon. 1994. A Child of the Northeast. Translated by Susan Fulop Kepner. Editions Duangkamol: Bangkok.
Burch, David 1996. “Globalized Agriculture and Agri-food Restructuring in Southeast Asia: The Thai Experience.” Pp. 323-344 in Globalization and Agri-Food Restructuring: Perspectives from the Australian Region, edited by David Burch, Roy E. Rickson and Geoffrey Lawrence. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing.
Buckley, Katharine C. 1990. The World Market in Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, Wine, and Tropical Beverages – Government Intervention and Multilateral Policy Reform Washington, DC: Commodity Economics Division, Economic Research Service, USDA.
Chompradit, Visut. Interviews with Mr. Chompradit, Seed Production Manager of Asgrow Thailand (now called Seminis Vegetable Seeds), September 1995 and June 1998.
Collins, J. 1993. Gender, Contracts and Wage Work: Agricultural Restructuring in Brazil Development and Change, 24(1):53-82.
Conroy, Michael, Douglas Murray and Peter Rosset. 1996. A Cautionary Tale: Failed U.S. Development Policy in Central America. Boulder: Lynne Rienner/Food First Development Studies.
Heffernan, William and Douglas Constance. 1994. “Transnational Corporations and the Globalization of Food.” In From Columbus to Conagra: The Globalization of Food an Agriculture, edited by Alessandro Bonanno, Lawrence Busch, William Friedland, Lourdes Gouveia and Enzo Mingione. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
Dolinsky, Diane J. 1992. “Contract Farming at Lam Man Oon: An Operational Model for Rural Development.” Institute Report, East Asian Institute, Columbia University. The Economist. 1993. Special Supplement on the Food Industry. November 16:18. The Economist. 1995. June 3:97.
Friedland, William. 1994. “The New Globalization: The Case of Fresh Produce.” Pp. 210-231 in From Columbus to Conagra: The Globalization of Food an Agriculture,edited by Alessandro Bonanno, Lawrence Busch, William Friedland, Lourdes Gouveia and Enzo Mingione. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
Friedmann, Harriet. 1993. “The Political Economy of Food.” New Left Review No.197:29-57.
Friedmann, Harriet. 1994. “Premature Rigor.” Review of International Political Economy, 1(3):552-561.
Goodman, David and Michael Watts. 1994. “Reconfiguring the Rural or Fording the Divide?: Capitalist Restructuring and the Global Agrofood System.” Journal of Peasant Studies, 22(1):1-49.
Gouveia, Lourdes. 1994 “Global Strategies and Local Linkages.” Pp. 125-148 in From Columbus to Conagra: The Globalization of Food an Agriculture,edited by Alessandro Bonanno, Lawrence Busch, William Friedland, Lourdes Gouveia and Enzo Mingione. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
Groot, Simon. 1999. Written correspondence with Mr. Groot, President of East-West Seed Company in Thailand, March.
Hussain, A. and K. Tribe. 1981. Marxism and the Agrarian Question, Vol. 1. Atlantic Highlands, Humanities Press.
Jaffee, S. 1994. Exporting High Value Food Commodities. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Kautsky, Karl. 1906. La Question Agraire. Paris: Maspero.
Kimenye, L. 1993. “The Economics of Smallholder Flower and French Bean Production and Marketing in Kenya.” Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University.
Konig, N. 1994. The Failure of Agricultural Capitalism. London: Routledge.
Kowithayakorn, Thaworn. Interviews with Mr. Kowithayakorn, Professor of Horticulture at Khon Kaen University in Khon Kaen, Thailand, February, 1996; and June, 1998.
Marsden, T, and N. Wrigley. 1994. “Regulation, Retailing and Consumption.” Paper delivered to the Association of American Geographers Meeting, San Francisco.
McMichael, Philip, ed. 1995. Food and Agrarian Orders in the World Economy. New York: Praeger.
Muscat, Robert J. 1994. The Fifth Tiger: A Study of Thai Development Policy. New York and Tokyo: M. E. Sharpe and United Nations University Press.
Phongpaichit, Pasuk, and Chris Baker. 1995. Thailand: Economy and Politics. Oxford and Bangkok: Oxford University Press and Asia Books.
Phongpaichit, Pasuk, and Chris Baker. 1998. Thailand’s Boom and Bust. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books.
Rama, Ruth 1995. “Latin America and Geographical Priorities of Multinational Agroindustries.” Unpublished manuscript. Paris: OECD.
Raynolds, Laura T., David Myhre, Philip McMichael, Vivian Carro Figueroa and Frederick Buttel. 1993. “The ‘New’ Internationalization of Agriculture: A Reformulation.” World Development 21(7):1101- 21.
Sawamis, Watcharawut. 1995. Discussion and interview with Watcharawut Sawamis, Managing Director of Hsin Seeds in Khon Kaen, August/September.
Storper, M., and R. Salais. 1997. Worlds of Production. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Watts, Michael. 1994a. “Life Under Contract: Contract Farming, Agrarian Restructuring, and Flexible Accumulation.” In Living Under Contract: Contract Farming and Agrarian Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa, edited by Peter D. Little and Michael J. Watts. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Watts, Michael. 1994b. “Contracting, Social Labor, and Agrarian Transitions.” In Living Under Contract: Contract Farming and Agrarian Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa, edited by Peter D. Little and Michael J. Watts. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Wells, Miriam J. 1996. Strawberry Fields: Politics and Work in American Agriculture. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Yao, Chin-Tsai, and Milton Chiou. Discussion and interview with Chin-Tsai Yao and Milton Chiou, General Manager and Marketing Manager, of Thai Soon Food Products Co., Ltd., Nong-Khai, June, 1998.
CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
You are free to:
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
This license is acceptable for Free Cultural Works.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.