Liberalization and Crisis in Colombian Agriculture by Felipe Jaramillo

Author:Felipe Jaramillo [Jaramillo, Felipe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9780429721380
Google: Df6rDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 49489321
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-08-28T00:00:00+00:00

Ley Agraria

The agricultural crisis of 1992 generated anti-government feelings among some influential farming groups, particularly those representing crops most affected by falling returns. During the first months of 1993, some of these groups met with members of the legislature to propose passage of legal provisions to dismantle Apertura measures in agriculture. They took advantage of the need for new legal provisions to develop Articles 64, 65 and 66 of the 1991 Constitution, which highlighted the strategic significance of agriculture to the Colombian economy. As a result, drafts circulated of a legal initiative that would reverse trade liberalization measures and provide generous short-term relief to farmers. These efforts culminated in December 1993, when Congress approved the General Agriculture and Fishing Development Act (Law 101 of 1993), which became known as Ley Agraria.

Despite its original motivation, the final version of the bill was a greatly altered one compared to the anti-Apertura drafts that had circulated early in the year. In legislative discussions, José Antonio Ocampo, then Minister of Agriculture, played an important role in modifying the original intentions of the proponents. More than half of the provisions of the approved text were included at the suggestion of the government, such as those concerning stabilization funds, rural development, technical assistance, subsidies for campesino families, refinancing regulations and crop insurance. Also, most of the provisions aimed at reversing trade liberalization were removed during legislative discussions.

Ley Agraria was the result of lengthy political negotiations between members of Congress, farming groups and the government. The result was a bill containing a variegated set of objectives, regulations, and instruments. In many areas, the law reiterated vague, lofty objectives, such as the need to extend credit to all fanners or ensuring that all international trade should obey "the principles of equity, reciprocity and national convenience," and that all agricultural policy be negotiated between the government and private groups.10

In addition to rhetorical sections, Ley Agraria also contained pragmatic provisions, which created key new instruments that widened the governments' arsenal to achieve development goals. These included the possibility of extending direct subsidies for crop purchases, on-farm capital Investments and the creation of campesino-based agroindustrial enterprises.

Prior to Ley Agraria, the government had been legally barred from extending direct subsidies to farmers. Article 7 of the Law made this possible, allowing subsidies that would "protect farm incomes, natural resources and peace in the countryside." Explicit subsidies for purchase and storage of crops, on-farm investments, use of electrical energy in rural areas and crop insurance were authorized in the law. IDEMA was also allowed to extend direct subsidies to fanners without direct purchase of the crop. This new flexibility led directly to a reduction of crop purchases after 1994 and facilitated the elimination of the agency in 1997.

Ley Agraria also created the Incentive for Rural Capitalization (ICR), a direct subsidy for up to 40 percent of eligible on-farm investments. This subsidy was put in practice in early 1994 for irrigation investments, processing and storage structures and for projects that involved upgrading of production technologies.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.