Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
deemed suitable for irrigation, but only some 40,000 hectares
are served by irrigation systems. Indeed, irrigation is rare,
except in the main valley, the Artibonite, and the Port-au-
Prince and Les Cayes plains in the southwest.
Nevertheless, agriculture remains the mainstay of the economy
and continues to account for two-thirds of the total work
force, followed by commerce and manufacturing. The significance
of the agricultural sector in the 1980s and 1990s differed,
however, from that in the 1950s, when it employed 80
percent of the labor force, represented 50 percent of GDP, and
contributed 90 percent of exports. Agriculture in the mid-
1980s accounted for 35 percent of GDP and for 24 percent of
exports, compared with about 30 percent of GDP and less than
10 percent of exports in the late 1990s. In the late 1990s, the
sector barely produced 20 percent of the country's domestic
food requirements. The constantly deteriorating rural infrastructure,
continuing fragmentation of land holdings, primitive
farming techniques, migration out of rural areas, insecure
land tenure, and deforestation as well as other ecological and
natural disasters are among the problems that have taken a toll
on the sector. Population pressure also has caused a shift from
the production of cash crops such as coffee and sugar to the
production of food crops such as rice and beans. Nevertheless,
food production has not kept pace with the increase in population,
and the situation has resulted in higher food-importing
bills. Malnutrition is another problem facing the country. Malnutrition
was so widespread in 1994 that relief organizations
were feeding about 700,000 people daily.
The agriculture sector suffered a more devastating blow
than originally thought when Hurricane Georges hit the island
on September 22-23, 1998. The government estimated the
number of deaths at no fewer than 400 and the cost of damage
at more than US$300 million. Most of the losses were incurred
through the destruction of crops and the indirect damage to
supporting infrastructure, with the main problem being flooding
in flat and low-lying areas. Irrigation and drainage systems
of the important Artibonite area also were damaged, adversely
affecting future production. Almost 70 percent of the second
rice crop in this largest rice-growing valley was destroyed.
The United States committed US$12 million for the emergency
reconstruction effort, and the IMF agreed to offer a
US$20 million loan. The IDB could have offered additional
badly needed disaster relief, but the lack of a prime minister
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