The new World Bank programme for the self‐liquidation of the third world peasantry

Abstract

For many years, the World Bank, whose task is to expand and strengthen the private enterprise system throughout the world, financed agricultural development projects whose beneficiaries were almost exclusively the s landed oligarchy in the underdeveloped countries and, directly or indirectly, the multinational concerns. Many of the Bank's loans helped to finance the modernization of the large estates and progressively weakened thereby the status of the underdeveloped countries’ peasants. Recently, in what at first sight might appear to be an about‐face in its strategy, the Bank added a credit scheme to help 100 million smallholders. Upon closer analysis of this scheme and how it would operate within the framework of underdeveloped agricultures, it is found that it is in reality the most antisocial programme yet to be invented by this so‐called development agency. It is bound to have such catastrophic consequences for the peasantry that it will make the ‘green revolution’ and similar modernization programmes look like child's play, although it guarantees significant additional sales and profits for the multinational concerns.