College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics

Non-AFRE Co-Principle Investigators: William Baucom, Country Coordinator (Second Phase, S. Kenneth Shwedel, Ag. Econ, and Gill Harrell, Marketing and Transportation

Project Name:           Costa Rica Agricultural Marketing – LAMP Country Study*
Donor:                        Agency for International Development/Costa Rica Mission
Contract No:              AID/515-234-T, AID-515-250-T, and AID-515-263-T
Account No:               71-2001
Location:                    Costa Rica
Duration:                    April 1972- December 1976
Budget:                       $237,603 over all phases

Key MSU Faculty:       K. Harrison, Co-Director LAMP; M. Weber, Country Coordinator; W. Baucom, Country Coordinator; H. Riley, J. Shaffer, D. Fienup, D. Ricks, and K. Shwedel (Agricultural Economics) and G. Harrell, Marketing and Transportation.

Photos:                       (Click here to view)

Documents:                (Click here to view)

Project Goals:           To assist the Government of Costa Rica to develop and implement national agricultural marketing policies, plans, and programs and to provide AID/Costa Rica with a management capability to design, evaluate, and monitor a development loan project in agricultural marketing as a follow-on to the Agricultural Development Program financed in part by AID.

Project Plans/Objectives:

During the first phase (1972-74):

• To perform the technical, economic, and social analyses necessary to formulate criteria for a realistic investment policy for market and food distribution facilities in Costa Rica.
• To develop an integrated interagency program combining long- and short-term research activities in accordance with priorities established by the agencies involved.
• To facilitate and promote the production and distribution of that combination of food and related services that best reflects consumer preferences.
• To promote the integration and coordination of market-facilities development activities and investment among concerned Costa Rican institutions.

During the second phase (1974-1975):

• To establish a permanent marketing research and policy analysis group in an appropriate government agency.
• To help PIMA to conduct its wholesale market feasibility study, especially in the areas of (a) institutional analysis, (b) market participant training programs, and (c) administrative organization.
• To assist in developing and implement a market information service.
• To work to arrange a special line of supervised credit for food wholesalers and retailers with an accompanying management training program for borrowers.
• To establish a special group in IFAM (Institute de Fomento y Asesoria Municipal) with the capability to assist municipalities in (a) identifying needs for public market facilities as part of comprehensive plans for municipal development, (b) preparing pre-feasibility and feasibility

During the third phase (1975 -1976):

• To review the present food marketing system in light of the National Nutrition Program in order to determine key points of interaction and recommend specific projects appropriate for AID loan funding.
• To assist INFOCOOP to improve its capability to develop and evaluate agricultural marketing loan requests consistent with the purpose of Loan 025.

Cooperating Institutions: University of Costa Rica, Institute for Municipal Development (IFAM), PIMA (Programa Integral de Mercadeo Agropecuario), Consejo Agropecuario National (CAN), and INFOCOOP.

Project Summary: Although affiliated with LAMP, this project received USAID Costa Rica mission funding to undertake studies and technical assistance modeled on those developed by previous LAMP research.  The first phase obtained information on the agricultural marketing system of the country. Two projects were subsequently funded to elicit further marketing information and to establish a permanent marketing research and policy analysis group in Costa Rica.  During the second phase the project help implement certain of the recommendations made in the previous contract and to establish a more permanent marketing research and implementation infrastructure within Costa Rica.  In the third phase and final phase  MSU provided consultative and research services through the auspices of LAMP on the MSU campus.

Photos From/About This Project:\

• View Website:  PIMA/CENADA - Programa Integral de Mercado Agropecuario / Centro Nacional de Abastecimiento y Distribucion de Alimentos:  Costa Rica
• MSU and Costa Rican colleagues work on the MSU/Costa Rican market improvement project(PIMA) - 1972
• Costa Rican Researc:her and Staff Members - PIMA. 1972
• AFRE/MSU Emeritus colleagues and AFRE graduates at Costa Rica PIMA Project Reunion in San Jose, Costa Rica - 2011

Documents From/About This Project:

• View Website:  Sistema de Información de Mercados Agroalimentarios de Costa Rica
•  Fomenting Improvements in Food Marketing in Costa Rica. 1974.  By Kelly Harrison, James D. Shaffer, and Michael T. Weber.  Research Report No. 10. Michigan State University. Latin American Studies Center.  Marketing in Developing Communities Series.
• Como Fomentar Mejoras en el Sistema de Mercadeo de Productos Alimenticios en Costa Rica. 1973.  Programa Integral de Mercadeo Agropecuario.  Serie Investigaciones 201.
• Programas Para Mejorar el Sistema De Mercado Agropecuario in Costa Rica. 1973. By Programa Integral de Mercadeo Agropecuario PIMA/IFAM.
• Estudio y proyecto para mejorar el sistema de distribución urbana de alimentos en el distrito de Hatillo. 1975. Instituto de Fomento y Asesoría Municipa: Programa Integral de Mercadeo Agropecuario.
• A General Framework for Evaluation of CNP's Grain Price Policies in Costa Rica. 1975.  By Carlos F. Cervantes. Plan B Paper, Dept. Agricultural Economics, MSU.
• The Food Assembly System in the Development Process. 1975.  By Alvaro E. Vargas. Plan B Paper, Dept. Agricultural Economics, MSU.
• An Analysis of Rural Food Distribution in Costa Rica. 1976. By Michael T. Weber. Ph.D. Dissertation,  Dept. Agricultural Economics, MSU. (Full Text Version)
• Marketing as a First Generation Problem of Small Farmers: A Costa Rican Case. 1976.  By Kelly M. Harrison and Kenneth Shwedel.  Paper Presented at OECD/FAO Seminar on Critical Issues on Food Marketing Systems in Developing Countries. Oct 18-22.
•  Marketing Problems of Small Farm Agriculture: A Case Study of the Costa Rican Potato Market. 1977. By S. Kenneth Shwedel. Ph.D. Dissertation , Dept. Agricultural Economics, MSU.

• Implementing Food Market Reform Programs in Costa Rica, the Cenada Project. 1980. Max. E. Fernandes. Plan B Paper, Dept. Agricultural Economics, MSU. 

* This description is adapted from work by Nancy E. Horn, an MSU alumnus from the Anthropology Department, published in 1985 “A Project History of Michigan State University’s Participation in International Development for the period 1951 – 1985”.  See AFRE Emeritus Faculty - Acknowledgements