On Tue, 8 Jul 2003, Eubulides cited the Guardian saying: > Cotton farmers' poverty laid at door of US > > African leaders to challenge Bush over 'ruinous' trade practices > Rory Carroll, Africa correspondent
One of the interesting side points that is rarely emphasized in this story is that it's a pretty stark refutation of the idea that big, mechanized agriculture is always more productive that small farmers. You can't get smaller and more labor intensive and less educated and with less infrastructure than cotton farmers in Mali, or more mechanized than cotton farming in the US. And yet we need protection to keep them from eating our lunch. Michael
