ABSTRACT
Agriculture is integrally linked with the basic human right to food security. The Chiapas uprising was indicative of broader insecurities playing themselves out around the world as a result of sweeping transformations under way in the world’s agricultural markets. Agricultural exports have helped fill foreign-exchange coffers in developing countries, but they have also imposed heavy social and environmental costs. Just as small farmers around the world are threatened by the integration of agricultural markets, many fishing communities are struggling under strains imposed in part by globalization. The seed varieties of the Green Revolution were generated by public-sector research institutions and made freely available to farmers and researchers to be adapted to local circumstances and needs. International trade in environmentally friendlier commodities has moved far beyond coffee. Spurred by growing consumer demand for food that is both healthy and environmentally sound, organic agriculture has become a growth industry in many parts of the world.
