https://ensr.oii.ox.ac.uk/examining-the-data-driven-value-chains-that-are-changing-rwandas-tea-sector/ Understanding public policy online Mon, 07 Dec 2020 14:25:32 +0000 hourly 1 https://ensr.oii.ox.ac.uk/examining-the-data-driven-value-chains-that-are-changing-rwandas-tea-sector/#comment-12 Mon, 13 Apr 2015 14:50:06 +0000 http://blogs.oii.ox.ac.uk/policy/?p=3103#comment-12 “… economic potential of increased Internet connectivity in the East African region …” I think you have the tail wag the dog: IF market forces were allowed to work their way through the realms of third-world agriculture, then anything (!) that might enhance its marketability or productivity, ergo profitability, would be embraced by these farmers, just as anything beneficial would be by EU or US farmers. The only hindrance is that the EU and US use discriminatory agricultural policies by which they press their surplus produce into underdeveloped markets at prices far below (!) what a local peasant earns per day (a dollar or less, depending on the region). while this might not directly affect the tea industry as the EU may not export tea, all agricultural activities are essentially communicating vessels and by draining resources for decades from the sector at large we have so thoroughly undermined the Third World and decapitalized it that no matter what snazzy technology be introduced, its wounds cannot heal as long as the EU and US insist on predatory tariff policies as a whole!

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