Good News

Douglas Hinds (cedecor@ipnet.com.mx)
Mon, 10 Nov 1997 03:33:34 -0600

Sunday was election day in our state and I just received a call from the
now vice mayor elect of a neighboring rural municipality (combined town
and county government) here in Southern Jalisco, which is a major source
of perishable agricultural commodities for the local, regional and
export markets. (Both Mayoral and City Council seats are elected as a
single group, although opposition parties can each achieve a seat or two
on the council, depending on the distribution of votes).

The purpose of his call was to inform me of their victory (40% above
that of the nearest alternative), and invite us once again to his
district to help farmers define their options for agricultural
production & marketing, as well as present them with a working plan for
implementing alternative agricultural practices. The caller is Treasurer
of his Farmer's Co-op, an Agricultural Engineer by profession and in
charge of Plant Sanitation for the Secretariat of Agriculture in his
district (which had recently been selected over competing districts as a
site for the construction of a future Beneficial Organism Production
Facility), and honored me with the first call made after confirming
their victory.

In the past, neither he nor I had received sufficient support to realize
our joint proposals, and the choices made instead, had provided
predictably disastrous results. However, enough consciousness was
created in the process to turn the tide in our favor.

This news coincides with the statement made last Friday by the
Councilman for Markets in our own more urban municipality, assuring me
that by tomorrow (Tuesday), the contract for renting with option to buy
a never used, local cold storage and freezing facility would be ready
for me (as Dir. Gen. of CeDeCoR) to sign. The availability of this
facility will allow us to process at least some of the non number 1
quality part of the crop.

Normally I don't make announcements before the fact, which helps
prevent our efforts from being sabotaged. However, since this project
itself is almost two years in the making and has ample studies behind it
- including those for it's direct antecedent, the still not implemented
PATIO project (Parque AgroTecnogico Industrial de Occidente - an
AgroTechnology Park for the development and application of ecologically
viable agricultural and agro-industrial processes - the only project
from this state selected for presentation in an national event
programmed by Mexico's current President during his campaign in August
of 1994), the groundwork for which began in 1989, I'll make an
exception. And recent events will hopefully help us step up the pace a
bit.

-- 


Douglas M. Hinds, Director General
Centro para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Rural A.C. (CeDeCoR)
(Center for Community and Rural Development) - (non profit)
Petronilo Lopez No. 73 (Street Address)
Apdo. Postal No. 61 (Mailing Address)
Cd. Guzman, Jalisco 49000 MEXICO
U.S. Voice Mailbox:  1 630 300 0550 (e-mail linked)
U.S. Fax Mailbox:  1 630 300 0555 (e-mail linked)
Tel. & Fax:  011 523 412 6308 (direct)
e-mail: cedecor@ipnet.com.mx, dmhinds@acnet.net, dhinds@.ucol.mx






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