The impact of the tomato agroindustry on the rural poor in Mexico

This article addresses the issue of whether the tomato agroindustry (TAI) h as been an effective instrument in the reduction of rural poverty. The TAI is by far the most important agroindustry in Mexico in terms of exports and employment creation. Most of the laborers employed by the TAI in northwest Mexico are temporary migrants coming from poverty-stricken regions in sout hern Mexico. Conditions of poverty-induced migration are explained. The cha racteristics and strategies of large, modern tomato enterprises are analyze d. The main conclusion is that migrant income earned in the tomato fields a nd packing plants, is fundamental for the bare survival in villages in pove rty-stricken regions. However, this does not provide a solution to poverty alleviation because migrant income is not sufficient to contribute to capit al formation in the migrating communities, or the to create the conditions fur endogenous local development. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B. V.