Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
with cacao trees rose from 65,000 hectares in 1971 to 117,000
hectares by 1980. Small farmers cultivate the most cocoa, producing
some 40,000 tons of cocoa on approximately 134,000
hectares in 1987. This crop was enough to make the Dominican
Republic the largest producer of cocoa in the Caribbean.
Cocoa production declined in the early 1990s, reaching
49,000 tons in 1991, but it recovered to a peak of approximately
67,000 tons in 1996. However, the crop was a casualty of
the 1997 drought, which resulted in a loss of more than 17.5
percent. The 1987 level of US$66 million in exports also was
reduced to a low point of US$35 million in 1991 before recovering
to US$60 million in 1995. Higher cocoa prices on international
markets raised export earnings to US$65 million in
1996.
Tobacco enjoyed a renaissance in the 1960s, with the introduction
of new varieties and an increase in prices. Sales revenues
peaked in 1978, but they declined considerably in the
1980s and 1990s because of lower prices, disease, and inadequate
marketing. Black tobacco of the "dark air-cured and suncured"
variety is manufactured into cigars for export. Numerous
companies participate in the export of black tobacco. A
growing number of cigar companies operate out of the country's
burgeoning free zones.
Declining prices and structural changes in the international
market for the Dominican Republic's traditional cash crops of
sugar, coffee, cocoa, and tobacco forced the government to
consider opportunities for nontraditional agricultural exports
during the 1980s and 1990s. This new emphasis on nontraditional
exports coincided with the implementation of the Caribbean
Basin Initiative (CBI), which afforded the country
reduced-tariff access to the United States market. The main
categories of nontraditional exports promoted by the government
included ornamental plants, winter vegetables (vegetables
not grown in the United States during winter months),
citrus, tropical fruits, spices, nuts, and certain types of produce
popular among the growing Hispanic and Caribbean populations
in the United States. However, new investments in agribusiness
during the 1980s and 1990s were less successful than
anticipated, particularly in comparison to the dramatic success
of assembly manufacturing and tourism. Nonetheless, officials
apparently succeeded in broadening the options of farmers
and investors from a few crops to a diverse range of products.
The government spearheaded agricultural diversification
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