ABSTRACT
The eyes of the international community have once again focused on agriculture and food crisis in the Third World as the plight of the African countries facing mass starvation came to the forefront. This chapter focuses on trade relations between the North and South to show some of the unfair trade policies that limit peripheral countries’ export of agricultural commodities. It examines the international factors that influence agrarian development in the South. Since agriculture is the largest sector for most Third World states' economies, exports will have to come from this sector-at least initially. Most Third World states face heavy debt servicing requirements. The bottom line of the present international atmosphere for the production and trade of agricultural commodities is that laissez-faire policies in this sector are not present and that market determination of primary commodity prices is still a myth.
