Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
Some colon os are descendants of former small mill owners
driven out of business during the expansion of sugar production
in the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. The
parents or grandparents of others were either subsistence farmers
who had switched to cane cultivation in response to rising
demand for sugar or successful field workers. Like almost all
Dominican farmers, colonos face land fragmentation that
increases progressively with each generation.
Sugar mills remain a major source of work for rural Dominicans,
although direct employment peaked at a high of roughlv
100.000 workers in the early 1970s. By the mid-1980s, the mills
employed approximately 65.000 workers: bv 1990 the number
was around 55.000. The number has been declining since, however,
primarily because of the sharp drop in the United States
sugar quota and growing inefficiency in the state sugar sector
as well as the government's increasing reliance on the industrial
free zones and the tourist industry. The sugar industry has
generated considerable indirect employment as well; some
observers have estimated that as much as 30 percent of the
population is directly or indirectly affected bv sugar production
(see Cash Crops, ch. 3). In the 1990s this figure decreased
to about 20 percent. The 40.000 to 50.000 cane cutters constitute
the bulk of the work force. Most are immigrant Haitians or
their descendants (see Haitians, this ch.). In the highly stratified
work force in the sugar industry, clear divisions exist
among cane cutters, more skilled workers (largely Dominicans),
clerical staff, and managers. Workers' settlements
(bateyes) dot the mill and the surrounding fields; thev usually
include stores, schools, and a number of other facilities.
Mixed Farming
Landholding is less concentrated in the north and west;
mixed crop and livestock raising dominate agricultural production.
Much production is geared to subsistence, but growers
also produce a number of cash crops such as cocoa, tobacco,
coffee, and vegetables. The twin constraints of land and money
affect the various strata of rural society differently depending
on the precise configuration of resources a family can command.
But hardship is widespread.
Those without land are the most hard pressed. Agricultural
laborers rarelv enjov opportunities for permanent employment.
Most work onlv sporadically throughout the year. During
periods of high demand for labor, contractors form semiper-
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