RURAL PORTUGAL: An opportunity to beat the recession
- Written by Jack Soifer
In the US I learned that the crisis is always an opportunity. When everything is developing well we have no need to change. Huge enterprises tend to be slow and react late to the early warning indicators. This means the concept of Small-is-Beautiful gains strength now, as small enterprises quickly adapt to the new conditions.
Already my earlier books, COMO SAIR DA CRISE A – Algarve and Alentejo, the “B” and “C” books in that line and TRANSPORTES, showed many niches where normally sales grow and small but profitable subniches to export. E.g. security services, tourism for the elderly, spas, fresh fruit, ecological produce. All of them have comprehensive summaries in English. But now, in a very deep recession, we need a whole branch to develop and export, not only niches.
I and another four experts found that there is a wealth to explore and export in the beautiful hinterland of Portugal. We mention e.g. sheep-goat regional cheese, biofuel, aquiculture, etc. Portugal imports 800 M€ of fish, when it should export that much, as it has an enormous fish waters. It imports 75% of all grains we eat, while it could export some 20%. It imports billions in crude, while it could export biofuel and energy from waves and underwater currents.
While most of the land is unused by locals, getting a miserable subsidy not to cultivate, foreigners or the Portuguese who have for some years worked abroad and came back as businessmen, have successful enterprises.
DID YOU KNOW, EUs LARGEST EXPORTER OF:
Carnation is in Moncarapacho, a Swede;
Bonsai orange-plants is in Algoz, a Scott;
Pepper is in Alentejo, a Dutch;
Raspberries is in Olhão, a Portuguese, who lived in Germany.
The main reasons for this dismay with the rural opportunities lie in a few reasons:
1. The cartel of distribution of foodstuff prefers to import very low-quality food, instead of paying a few cents more to top-quality local producers.
2. Governments, since many decades, does nothing to curb these illegal cartels.
3. Governments allow all kind of dangerous food additives in order to prolong shelf-time, although some countries in the EU forbid them, as Denmark.
4. Bureaucracy needed for the rural sector is greater than others, in order to give white-colour jobs to friends to politicians of several political parties, which have to “invent” regulations, or controls, which large enterprises simply disregard, as they have the power to re-write regulations or decisions written by secretaries of state, when these don’t fit their plans.
5. The EU own bureaucracy, pressed by the French and Spanish very large farmers and the agroindustry, established regulations on the handling and hygiene of fresh foodstuff which makes it almost impossible for a small peasant to sell his product; we all know that it is not the equipment, but the personal procedures who guarantee that hygiene.
6. The neuromarketing makes us buy without thinking, just as animals, reacting on colours and inputs from TV and other mass-media. We eat dangerously, mainly sugar, salt and additives banned by doctors as leading after some years to damaged brains (Alzheimer and Parkinson), damaged liver, breast-cancer, high blood-pressure, obesity, etc.
In coming issues of this column we’ll tell about the very small and very successful peasants, who got international prizes in olive oil, sparkling wine, sheep-cheese, etc.
All that is in my new book, PORTUGAL RURAL – A oportunidade, to be launched with ecological breakfast and lunch. Do you want an invitation? Check my webpage, http://jacksoifer.org/ for the email.
