The impact of the tomato agroindustry on the rural poor in Mexico
研究了墨西哥番茄农业加工业是否有效减少了农村贫困，发现该行业虽为贫困地区移民提供生存收入，但不足以促进资本形成或内生发展，无法真正缓解贫困。
Abstract This article addresses the issue of whether the tomato agroindustry (TAI) has 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 southern Mexico. Conditions of poverty‐induced migration are explained. The characteristics and strategies of large, modern tomato enterprises are analyzed. The main conclusion is that migrant income earned in the tomato fields and packing plants, is fundamental for the bare survival in villages in poverty‐stricken regions. However, this does not provide a solution to poverty alleviation because migrant income is not sufficient to contribute to capital formation in the migrating communities, or the to create the conditions for endogenous local development.