AN ELECTRONIC INFORMATION NETWORK
FOR MEXICO'S SMALL AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS
Mexico's small agricultural producers are the backbone of
this country: economically and culturally, historically and in
the present, they are vital to the well-being and to the very
identity of Mexico. Relying almost entirely on traditional
farming methods, they lack the technological advantages of the
large agribusinesses with their mechanized production of high-
profit crops for export. However, in light of today's concern
with the preservation both of the country's cultural heritage
and its environmental and physical resources, their low-tech
methods appear of increasing relevance to the future.
Still, the country's small producers must compete in a
market which includes large capital-intensive agribusinesses,
foreign-based companies with advanced technology,
international produce brokers, and all the sophisticated
mechanisms of the interconnected twenty-first century global
economy (including the developing international trade blocks,
such as the North American Free Trade Agreement). The small
producers themselves, the country's campesino farmers, are aware
of the fact that their greatest challenge lies in developing ways
to function effectively in this context, and that their greatest
need is for access to vital information and for greater ease of
communication with other producers and potential buyers of their
products.
The Electronic Network for Small Producers, or "AGRINET"
(Red de Informaci"n Ejidal), seeks to create an information-
exchange system designed to meet this need, accessible to
small producers all over the country. AGRINET will provide
information services with instantaneous access by computer
modem to interactive data bases in each state of the republic,
giving small producers access to the information they need in
order to compete effectively in domestic and export sales of
their produce.
Once in operation AGRINET will be able to provide a
multitude of information services beneficial to small
producers all over Mexico, including:
* current price information to aid in negotiation of
planned sales;
* price information for the purchase of seeds,
fertilizers, pesticides;
* information on the application of appropriate
agricultural methods, including such things as
developing climate conditions, recommendations on
available plant strains, pest-affected areas and
information on how to deal with pests in ways that
are environmentally safe;
* standard forms for documents needed by producers
(contracts, purchase agreements, etc.);
* information and contacts to assist women in the
commercialization of their textiles and other hand-
crafted products;
* catalogue information and long distance ordering
services for equipment, tools and other agricultural
supplies at wholesale prices;
* information obtained from the latest research and
academic studies relating to agriculture;
* on-line technical advice;
* guidance on techniques for the developing and higher-
profit area of growing organic produce (coffee, in
particular), as well as assistance on how to get
certification of organically-grown crops.
Clearly, this project has enormous potential for providing
assistance, directly and economically, to Mexico's small
agricultural producers. There will be many indirect benefits,
as well, such as motivating computer literacy in rural areas, and
the democratizing experience of providing people who have often
felt marginal with the opportunity of having more knowledge
and control in the area most central to their existence: their
work, their identity, and their economic survival.
The AGRINET project was initiated in 1992 with the support
of a planning grant from the Ford Foundation. It has received
broad endorsement from national and local campesino
organizations. With its Mexico City base at the Universidad
Metropolitana Iztapalapa campus, AGRINET has set up a network of
cooperating state universities which will provide key
logistical support (through the universities' Internet-linked
computer network, RUTYC). AGRINET has recently received
additional Ford Foundation support which will cover about half
the expenses of establishing the network's first phase, which
will be in the southern and southeastern regions of Mexico.
AGRINET is now seeking matching support from both
foundations and the private sector in order to begin putting
this network into operation, first in the southern and
southeastern regions of Mexico, eventually to be expanded to
all regions of the country. Many kinds of support are
currently needed, and foundations or businesses which would
like to get involved in this ground-breaking project can
participate by contributing in any of the following ways:
* tax-deductible donations to the AGRINET Project at the
Universidad Aut"noma Metropolitana, Iztapalapa or to
individual groups participating in AGRINET;
* in-kind donations of equipment and software (AGRINET
needs computers, modems, hard drives, monitors, and
just about any kind of computer parts and supplies,
including equipment which might currently be
considered out-of-date);
* training for the young people who will be operating the
computer and modem technology at state and regional
AGRINET centers in each of the states.
* concrete suggestions about how best to link producer
organizations with border brokers, potential markets
and relevant NGO's.
ssrobinson@igc.org