In the rich volcanic soil of the southern Philippines, political and religious fighting between the indigenous Muslims and the national Manila-based government created a situation in which development was impeded and even untenable. Enter a dynamic member of one of main Muslim royal families to become mayor in this conflict-affected area and use his political and business skills to encourage the institution of an enterprise only dreamed of by others: the La Frutera Incorporated (LFI) banana plantation. This study focuses on the interplay between the indigenous Muslim landowners and ground supervisors, mixed Muslim and non-Muslim Filipino middle management, and formal incorporation and products distribution by multinational corporate interests. Read and discover the story of the past, the present, and the future of LFI in Maguindanao Province of Mindanao, the Southern Philippines.

is an intercultural analyst and a development anthropologist. He has his doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in Development Studies from Ateneo de Davao University (www.addu.edu.ph) in the southern Philippines. Currently, Dr. Williams is English Major Professor in the School of Foreign Languages at Jianghan University in Wuhan, China.