Letter to the editor

By Nora Lustig
The Economist, May 15, 2008

SIR – You described Mexico's PROCAMPO programme for farmers as one based on conditional cash transfers (CCT) (“Reviving the ration card”, April 19th). PROCAMPO is not a CCT programme. Mexico does have such a scheme, called Oportunidades, which transfers cash to poor families on the condition they take their children to health check-ups and keep them in school. PROCAMPO's main effect is to subsidise people with land. The vast majority of its beneficiaries are sellers of agricultural goods, most of whom are not poor.

Moreover, it is not the right programme for the current crisis in food prices, where an emphasis should be placed on helping the buyers of food. For example, the Mexican government could use Oportunidades to transfer more money to its beneficiaries so they can cope with rising food prices.

Nora Lustig
Visiting professor of international affairs
George Washington University
Washington, DC