2,221,005
 
Subsidios al Campo en México es un esfuerzo de organizaciones civiles e instituciones académicas por arrojar luz sobre el destino de los apoyos financieros dirigidos al sector agropecuario en el país. Este sitio proporciona información para alimentar los debates sobre el tema, convencidos de que todas las discusiones sobre los asuntos públicos deben estar basadas en información oportuna y de calidad sobre el uso y destino de los recursos públicos.

Subsidios al Campo en México es una sencilla herramienta que permite conocer datos oficiales sobre los padrones de beneficiario/as de programas de subsidios agrícolas. Los datos oficiales se presentan exactamente como las oficinas gubernamentales los publican, y se utilizan para apoyar o realizar numerosos tipos de investigaciones y consultas.

Algunos de los análisis que nuestra herramienta permite son: quiénes reciben los apoyos y en dónde se localizan, para cuáles productos se reciben más apoyos y cuáles menos, en qué estados están concentrados los subsidios y mucha información más.

Este sitio, el primero de su tipo en Latinoamérica, se inserta en un debate internacional sobre la importancia de transparentar los subsidios agrícolas.

  

Press Release 10/13/08

Website sheds light on distribution of major farm subsidy programs in Mexico


  • Subsidios al Campo en México (Farm Subsidies in Mexico), provides quick and easy access to government data about "who gets what" from Mexico's major farm subsidy programs. For the first time in 15 years, users can easily search official information about who benefits from farm subsidies, how much they receive, where they receive it, and for which crops - all crucial information for current congressional discussions about the 2009 federal budget.

  • The website, first of its kind in Latin America, allows independent analysis of official government data for Mexico's two largest direct payment farm subsidy programs, "Procampo" and "Ingreso Objetivo" (or "Target Income", part of the Marketing Support Program). Official recipient data shows a very high degree of inequality in the distribution of these two programs: since 1994, the top 10% of subsidiy recipients have concentrated 57% of the total amount paid to farmers through "Procampo" and "Ingreso Objetivo". Over the past 15 years, the top 10% of farmers involved in these subsidy programs have received an average yearly payment 16 times that of the bottom 80% of recipients.

  • Civil society organizations call upon the government to justify why the distribution of payments is so unequal, and explain how such a concentrated allocation of farm subsidies meets the objectives established in the National Development Plan and sectoral program for rural development, both of which prioritize development in marginalized rural areas, along with equitable development of agricultural activities across the country.

Mexico City, Mexico. October 13th, 2008. - Today, FUNDAR, Center for Analysis and Research, launched the website, Subsidios al Campo en México (Farm Subsidies in Mexico), available at http://subsidiosalcampo.org.mx. The first of its kind in Latin America, this website provides quick and easy access to official government data about farm subsidies in Mexico. Users can now easily search the official recipient lists of two of Mexico's major farm subsidy programs: Procampo and Ingreso Objetivo (or Target Income, part of the Marketing Support program). The goal of launching this website is to promote more informed discussion about farm subsidy programs and whether or not they meet official established agricultural policy goals, including equitable development across the country.

An initial analysis of the official recipient lists for these two programs revealed:

  • From 1994 to date, direct payments to farmers through Procampo and Ingreso Objetivo totaled $168.4 billion pesos (MXP), approximately $15.5 billion USD (using the current exchange rate). These totals have not been adjusted for inflation.

  • In 2007, a total of $14.4 billion MXP (approx. $1.34 billion USD) was paid to 2,594,582 farm subsidy recipients.

  • In 2008, the total budget for these two major farm subsidy programs surpasses $25 billion MXP (approx. $2.3 billion USD).

  • Over the past 15 years, the top 10% of farm subsidy recipients in these two programs received 57% of total payments. This same top 10% of recipients were paid an average of $16,046 MXP per year, while the bottom 80% of recipients were paid only $964 MXP annually.

  • Farmers in 5 states (out of 32, including the Federal District where Mexico City is located) received 40% of total payments from 1994-2008: Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Jalisco and Chiapas.

Farm Subsidies in Mexico is a unique technological tool inspired by and based on the interface developed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and their Farm Subsidy Database. EWG provided technical support in the development of Farm Subsidies in Mexico. Official government data is now easily accessible and searchable, so users can quickly access detailed information on "who gets what" from Mexico's major farm subsidy programs. Through this website users can see: total payments over time, payments to individual farmers or companies, payments by state, county and crop, and much more.

The presentation of official government data in an easily accessible format permits comparisons that question whether official objectives for agricultural policy are being met. By making detailed information about the allocation of farm subsidies transparent and available to the public, the website also enables interested parties to demand that the government justify these expenditures, explain the characteristics of their allocation, and demonstrate results.

At the public launch of Farm Subisdies in Mexico, Jorge Romero León, Executive Director of Fundar commented: "At last, we have a useful tool to make sense of public information related to farm subsidies that allows us to know how subsidies are spent, what they pay for, who they reach and what the results are. Based on this information, we can begin to hold authorities accountable. Today we know about farm subsidies in greater detail: who gets what, where and why."

Information published on the website http://subsidiosalcampo.org.mx comes from official datasets, which are public under Article 7 of the Federal Law for Transparency and Access to Public Government Information (LFTAIPG for its acronym in Spanish). This new law (passed in 2003) requires that the government publish any and all information related to recipients of government programs and federal expenditures. However, when the Ministry of Agriculture's agency in charge of these farm subsidy programs initially published the information in compliance with the new Transparency Law, it could not be reasonably searched or aggregated.


About FUNDAR

Fundar, Centro de Análisis e Investigación is an independent, interdisciplinary and plural institution committed to understanding and solving contemporary problems by means of applied research. The overarching guidelines of our work include: achieving equality, guaranteeing the Rule of Law and respect for human rights. Since its inception, Fundar's main subject-area and activities have centered on budget and policy analysis. Having developed a unique degree of technical experience and policy expertise, Fundar has sought specific goals in different areas, including: budget transparency, improvement of poverty reduction programs and health policies, legislative monitoring, exercising the right to access government information, monitoring of law enforcement agencies, and oversight of human rights agencies.

For more information see our website at www.fundar.org.mx, or contact Alicia Athie at alicia@fundar.org.mx.