Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
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Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

by Helen Chapin Metz et al by Helen Chapin Metz et al

tainolibrary
from tainolibrary More from this publisher
19.06.2022 Views

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 134

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