for Carin.... ;D

was reading this yesterday and thought, "I'm going to have to mail you this issue when I'm done with it." but it looks like the article is available online. anyhoo, on to the specific passage:

Now farm experts are beginning to change their views, putting the customer ahead of production. In 2004, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) became the first aid donor to pledge to organize its spending around the principle that the ­end ­customer is the prime mover in African agriculture. Given a ready buyer who is offering a fair price, African farmers will defy stereotypes of their inherent conservatism and backwardness. “They move like lightning when money is on the table,” says David Barry, a British coffee buyer based in Kampala. “Cash is king.”

from The Coming Revolution in Africa by G. Pascal Zachary. Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2008.

so, this capitalism thing. maybe not so bad? haven't quite finished the article yet... it's looong, but didn't want to forget that bit and the few paragraphs that follow.