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Geography

The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two thirds of the Island of Hispaniola in the western Caribbean Sea. Haiti lies to the west on the same island. The country’s land area is 49,000 km2. Estimates in 2007 put the population at 9.7 million, and the population growth rate is 1.4 per cent (World Bank). According to a 2002 estimate, about 36 per cent of all Dominicans live in rural areas, and about 12 per cent of the population has emigrated permanently to Spain and the United States of America.

The climate is tropical, with little seasonal variation in temperature but with seasonal rainfall. The terrain is rugged and mountainous, with fertile valleys. The country lies in the path of hurricanes and tropical storms, which can have devastating effects that persist for years, disrupting the lives of poor people in rural areas. Soil erosion and deforestation are environmental concerns.

Agriculture

Crop farming accounts for about 55 per cent of the country’s agricultural output, livestock for 40 per cent and forestry and fishing for 5 per cent. Land tenure is highly concentrated in the hands of a small proportion of producers. Just over 6 per cent of agricultural producers control about 70 per cent of agricultural land. In contrast, about 80 per cent of farmers own less than 8 per cent of the land. And 40 per cent of them are small-scale producers, with holdings of from 0.5 to 2 hectares.

Agriculture’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) has declined over recent decades to 6.5 per cent in 2006, from 13.3 per cent in 1993. Since 2004 increased financial support from the government, the private sector and international development agencies have helped stimulate the sector, which was re-oriented towards more diversified production and a more efficient agro-industry. In 2005–06 the growth rate rose to 7 per cent, compared with an average of less than 3 per cent in the previous four years.

During the last decade the Dominican Republic has become an important exporter of niche agricultural products such as quality organic coffee, organic cacao and bananas. Organic farming, once practised informally by poor farmers, has given way to formally certified production destined largely for export. The increase in non-traditional crops and organic products is changing the agricultural profile of the country, as a growing number of medium and small-scale farmers take up the production of special crops. The Dominican Republic now has 14,000 organic growers, in one of the largest organic sectors in Latin America. Only Mexico and Peru have more organic producers than the Dominican Republic.

In 2007 increased competition from imports as a result of tariff cuts and an unfavourable exchange rate, in addition to the effects of severe tropical storms, cut agricultural growth to 1.2 per cent. The slowdown in 2007 appears to have been more significant in the non-traditional agricultural sector, affecting mainly small farmers.

Economy

There has been strong growth in GDP in recent years, from US$19.7 billion in 2000 to an estimated US$36.6 in 2007 (World Bank). The economy has been driven mainly by dynamic sectors such as tourism, industrial free trade and telecommunications, which are closely linked to the world economy. But as a result of new dynamics in the agricultural sector, the value of total agricultural exports grew 33.3 per cent between 2004 and 2007. Organic products account for more than 4 per cent of all agro-export earnings, and for 0.5 per cent of total export revenues.

Source: IFAD, World Bank