The Dilemma of Food Security in a Revolutionary Context: Nicaragua, 1979 - 1986

In recent years, many Central American nations have experienced recurring food deficits and have become importers of food, rather than exporters, as they once were (see Murdoch, 1980: 98-166~ Barry and Preusch, 1986: 144-162). Simultaneously, their economies have become increasingly dependent on exports of primary agricultural products. Such agro-export expansion not only increased the integration of these economies into the international market, but it also initially fueled high rates of growth and provided the necessary foreign exchange with which to import essential goods and pay off their debt. However, as a result of economic policies which have promoted the extension and elaboration of the commercial agricultural export sector, the land available for food production has decreased, and the food resources of Central America are being threatened (Super and Wright, 1985: xi).