American peanut is the luckiest nut 1

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Why the American peanut is the luckiest nut

Name

University

American peanut is the luckiest nut 2

American peanut is the luckiest nut

To know why American peanut is the luckiest nut in the world while others produced in

Mozambique, Brazil and Senegal are not, needs a little storytelling, but a true story behind being

the luckiest.

According to Brownie 'the removal or reduction of restrictions or barriers on the free exchange

of goods between nations’ is called Trade liberalization. This includes the removal or reduction

of both tariff and non-tariff obstacles. If the promises of agricultural trade liberalization are

exaggerated, the perils are very real. in a global market in which rich countries or a select few

advanced developing countries dominate, liberalization leads to a flood of cheap imports, which

undermine domestic producers previously protected by tariffs or other government supports.

Ground Nut:

It is a part of the peanut family. Groundnut is another seed of a legume plant because it

grows beneath the ground it is called ground nut. It is nutritious and rich in vitamins; it is eaten

raw, roasted, or cooked with other foods.

Senegal's ground nuts

It was in 16th century when the Portuguese brought ground nut to

Senegal. Since then it remained Senegal's chief crop. In 1960 when Senegal got independence it

was in need of modern ways of farming, the World Bank came and with its help the production

increased. With the increase of production, this crop was exported to developed countries as it

brought Dollars, so needed by the government. Then many other countries in Asia also boosted

American peanut is the luckiest nut 3

their production of ground nuts. With such surplus crop available to the world, the prices came

down; the supply was greater than the demand. This trend led to a decline in Senegal's export of

ground nuts, its exports dropped to such an extent that it was facing bankruptcy. Then came the

IMF and asked Senegal to start a reforms program, it offered fertilizers, seeds and monetary help.

On its behest the ground nut industries were privatized. Even after the creation of improved

groundnut varieties, yield rates are still low compared to their potential (Shiferaw et al.

2010).But when situation got worse, Senegal borrowed money from IMF and World Bank and

today Senegal is one of the most indebted nations in the world.

Mozambique's Cashew Nut

Cashew nuts of Mozambique were one of the best in the world. All over

Mozambique cashew nuts were grown. Till 1990 more than ten thousand people were engaged in

this cash crop production. The government of Mozambique, to help its economy, imposed an

export tax which provided it with the money to meet its needs. But then the IMF and World

Bank interfered and asked it not to impose any restrictions or taxes as it went against the WTO

policies of trade liberalization. First the Mozambique government has the courage to reject this

demand. But not for long; the political pressure led to the privatization of this industry. Foreign

companies came and offered attractive amounts for the crops; the local industry was unable to

compete. By 1999 this major crop was exported to such an extent that this took away the jobs of

more than 9000 people linked to its production. Cashew-nuts are used extensively as an

inexpensive source of protein (Rachier 2005).Mozambique's whole crop of cashew nuts was

exported. Poverty grew due to this reason and once again the same IMF and World Bank came to

the rescue and poured more loans.

American peanut is the luckiest nut 4

Brazil Nut

Most of the Brazil nuts come from Bolivia and not Brazil. The rainforests of Bolivia have

a small but unique species of flies which pollinate the nut flowers and make it tastier. Bolivian

nuts are a source of cash for its farmers.

Industrialization:

During industrialization the NGO's appeared and helped Bolivia to boost its harvest,

participated in training of several agricultural practices including site selection, land preparation,

seed selection, production practices, plant health and post-harvest handling (Dankyi et al. 2007)

the result was that the crop saw a boost but more than 80 percent of this crop was marked for

exports. This export brought previous dollars to Brazil. But then due to reasons unknown its nuts

were said to contain more toxin and hence the European Union said that this went against its

envisaged health safety provisions.

The American Peanut:

One of the most protected peanut industry in the world. The U.S. government subsidizes

it to an extent that each farmer gets a bonus with every peanut produced. In 1900 George

Washington Carver’s work with peanuts drew the attention of a national growers’ association,

which invited him to testify at congressional tariff hearings in 1921. Today with no nuts to

challenge its hegemony, the American peanut is the luckiest peanut in the world.

American peanut is the luckiest nut 5

Références

Dankyi A., R. Moxley, J. Jacka, W. Clifford, and M. Owusu-Akyaw. 2007. “Socioeconomic

Impact Assessment of Peanut CRSP Supported New Technology Related to Integrated

Crop Management Techniques.” Final Report for USAID, Peanut CRSP Program.

Shiferaw, B., G. Muricho, J. Okello, T.A. Kebede, and G. Okecho. 2010. “Adoption of Improved

Groundnut Varietie.” Patancheru; India: International Crops Research Institute for the

Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)

Rachier G.O. 2005. “Groundnut production, Research Status, and Future Prospects in Western

Kenya.” Paper Presented at Proceedings of Groundnut Stakeholders Meeting. Nairobi,

Kenya June 14, 2005.