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successes And challenges of the Common Agricultural Policy. Essays
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When I returned to Ecuador upon completion of my master’s degree at Purdue I had a clear vision of what I wanted to accomplish with my degree. I wanted to work influencing the choices made by my country in the agricultural sector. Having worked in the government, previous to leaving the country, I thought I had an idea of what I was to expect of my roles and responsibilities. It did not take me long, as I settled in the Ministry of Agriculture, to realize that my role and the work dynamics in the National Bank of Development would be very different from my new assignment as the National Director of Agricultural Policies and Strategies.
The main assignment I led was the analysis of agricultural related bills proposed by the National Assembly. This included a fair amount of coordination with different areas of the ministry particularly trade and commerce, irrigation, land management and so forth. However the most challenging task in this role was bridging the knowledge gap between the field experts and the assembly members (equivalent to the US Senators and representatives). This role helped me not only learn the procedure of passing regulation in Ecuador but the impact of creating policy properly and responsibly.
After the 2013 elections, due to success I had in my previous role, the authorities decided to appoint me as the National Director of Sustainable Agricultural Productivity. To date my biggest assignment is to lead the planning and implementation of the agricultural component of the National Bio-Fuels program. This program consists on the production of ethanol from sugarcane, in turn shifting our dependence from fossil fuels to sustainable and renewable energy. Most importantly, it seeks to support our government’s main f...
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...embered myself every day to take time and discuss with them other things unrelated with the project like their career ambitions and professional development. Now that I am planning to quit my job in order to go to HKS, I encourage them to seek training opportunities so one of them becomes my replacement, but moreover to support their long-term career plans.
As I am writing this essay, it is late November. The rains have not started yet and we have successfully planted 3000 new acres of sugarcane. This production will be used as seed during the next year, where we plan to incorporate 25000 new acres of sugarcane that will be used exclusively to produce ethanol and subsequently bio-fuels. Additionally with this program we have benefited 11 different cooperatives of small farmers, impacting the wellbeing of approximately 1000 families in the southern coast of Ecuador.
Miller, Theresa. "Join Academia.edu & Share Your Research with the World." Hunger, Gender, and Social Assistance in the Canela Indigenous Society of Northeast Brazil. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014. .
Benitez, Gerardo, Latin American Perspectives: The Maquiladora Program Its Challenges Ahead, THE WHARTON JOURNAL, December 11, 1995.
During Gregory’s ethnographic research in the Dominican Republic, he encounters many individuals, some tourists, others expatriates, as well as citizens native to the island. One individual by the name of Minaya, discusses changes in the sugar cane industry. In 1988 he became a worker at a sugar mill that his uncle owned, but claimed that the industry became “Capitalized” (Gregory 2007: 15). He explains this capitalization as the industry being leased out to private corporations, which incurred poor working conditions and minimal wages upon the laborers. Minaya also expresses the fact he has no formal education, a big factor...
The broad range of topographical elevations has encouraged agricultural expansion whose diverse production of food constitutes an important part of the Colombian economy. The agricultural sector contributed 14% of GDP, excluding coffee, with a production worth almost 11 billion US. In the hot lowlands of the Caribbean heartland, the inter-montages valleys, and the savannas of Orinoquia, there are immense plantations of bananas, sugar cane, rice, cotton, soybeans and sorghum, and large cattle farms that produce meat and dairy products. (Sited Dennis Hanratty)
“All Biofuels Are Not Created Equal” is a very informative article that everyone should be aware of. The authors of this article show how biofuels can be made to benefit Earth. Our ecological footprint is so big that everyone requires 2.5 Earths to maintain the same lifestyle. What does this reveal? It reveals that Earth’s resources are being diminished. This means that the world needs to do something to prevent this so Earth can last for future generations. The way that biofuels are being made is not very effective in helping this problem. This is because it either requires deforestation or the burning of fossil fuels, which the world is trying to stop. Instead of using corn or sugar cane as ethanol, alternative crops should be used because it will benefit our environment the most.
Introduction The American continent is divided into 3 regions: North America, Central America and South America. This last region counts with many countries that have a high adult and child mortality rate. For the purpose of this paper I selected Ecuador as the country with one of the highest mortality rates. According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2011), the mortality rate for children under 5 years old was 23 per 1000 births and for adults the probability of dying between 15 to 60 years old was for males 162 and females 89 per 1000 births. Location/Geography/Population Ecuador is located in the western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between the border countries of Colombia and Peru.
Given the amount of resources that the world as a whole has access to why use corn as a source of fuel? Some would say that countries, such as the United States have an overabundance of food produce. Logically, those countries that have an over surplus of food MUST have enough to put a dent into the rapidly increasing costs of oil and gasoline. Unfortunately, that is a misconception. In order to produce enough corn to fuel the global economy it is important to analyze what that actually means for farmers and the government, not to mention the actual food supply. In order to produce corn ethanol, we must first grow an abundance of corn. Simple right? Wrong, corn is very draining on the soil it is grown, which, in short, means that whomever is growing the corn would have to rotate the corn plantation with something that will restore the nutrients of the soil. Unfortunately, that takes both time and money to do. The task would cal...
Will, George F. "The Biofuel Follies. " Newsweek. 151.06 (Feb 11, 2008): 64. General Reference Center Gold. Gale. GILA RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL. 20 Feb. 2015
Lafourie, J. (2012). Agricultores muy asustados por TLC con Estados Unidos. Dinero.com. Retrieved from http://www.dinero.com/negocios/articulo/agricultores-muy-asustados-tlc-estados-unidos/151296
Pimental D and Patzek (2005). Ethanol Production using Corn, Switchgrass and Wood; Biodiesel Production using soybean and Sunflower. Earth and Environmental Sciences, 14 (1).
With the increases in the global population and the increase need to feed this population, comes the great debate in how governments of the developed and developing world must tackle this important issue. In his article, The Politics of Hunger: How Illusion and Greed Fan the Food Crisis, Paul Collier examines the root causes of the food crisis and three ways (the slaying of giants) governments can easily come in finding a solution in the near-term, middle-term and long-term. The root causes, as outlined by Mr. Collier, are the increasing demand for food and increases in food prices. First, Collier states, “the first giant that must be slain is the middle to upper-class love affair with peasant agriculture.” In other words, increasing commercial agriculture and farming. Second, Collier states that the lifting of the genetically modified foods (GM crops) ban by Europe and Africa will allow a decrease in global food prices. Lastly, he states the United States must lift the subsidies on corn produced for biofuel and find an alternate biofuel source (like Brazilian sugar cane), thus decreasing the price on corn produced for food while increasing overall grain production.
The ability to create an action plan that would provide enough “sustainability food for the future” gives off a very powerful message that we must change the way we perceive the world around us. To start viewing the earth as an “island” the natural resources the earth provides are slowly deteriorating right before our eyes. Population growth has exceeded the earth's capacity to sustain the growing demand for food. There have been warnings that seemed like “whispers” but now the earth, our island is speaking “loudly” and now is showing the damage our carelessness has caused. The Political of Sustainable Consumption and Production (PSC) has become more involved in the growing issues surrounding food consumption and production “because of its impact on the environment, individual and public health, social cohesion, and the economy (Reisch L., 2014).
Our first solution is New Delhi, India. India's wheat and rice production can be increased by over 60 percent, sugarcane production by 41 per cent and cotton production by 73 per cent. The best part of this solution is that we don’t have to cut down trees or forests or we don’t even have to increase farm area! Basically, in over 157 countries, including India farms are not producing their capacities. Most importantly, in India, a study found that in wheat, the current yield was 2.49 tonnes per hectare (tph) while it could go up to 3.98 tph if proper fertilizer and water is provided. Similarly, rice yield could increase from 2.88 tph to 4...
Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals--environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. A variety of philosophies, policies and practices have contributed to these goals. People in many different capacities, from farmers to consumers, have shared this vision and contributed to it.
Suarez, Danilo. "The Plight of Coconut Farmers." Manila Standard Today 28 May 2013, n. pag. Web.