Climate Change impacts on Dominican Agriculture/ Environmental Policy

Blog Post #4

Climate Change impacts on Dominican Agriculture/ Environmental Policy

February 22 2011

            The Dominican Republic currently has a variety of issues with regards to climate change and its agricultural sector.  According to the Global Climate Risk Index the country ranks 5^th in the World, demonstrating its high vulnerability to global climate change. The expected issues that the country will face in the coming years range from increases in temperature, decreases in precipitation, and sea level increases.  These concerns are a major concern when put together:

The increased temperatures, coupled with a reduced precipitation regime will lead to increased evapo-transpiration and an increased water deficit, reflected in a reduction of runoff of up to 95% by 2100 with respect to the baseline, under the most pessimistic scenario. It is also expected to see a transition from the most humid zones of the country to the driest and an expansion of the areas that are historically the driest. (Climate Change Aspects in Agriculture 2)

For this reason it is imperative that the government of the Dominican Republic take the necessary steps to insure that its country is not completely devastated in the future. Currently the Dominican Republic has employed the following policy initiatives to help it mitigate the potential harmful effects of climate change:

·         National Communication to the United Nations that details current and future efforts of the Dominican Republic with regards to Climate Change.

·         The National Council for Climate Change and Clean Development Mechanism which is the climate change authority in the country. It was created in 2008 and helps maintain commitments to various UN initiatives.

·         The Agricultural Ministry has responsibility in developing future agricultural policy and administering research in future endeavors.

·         Kyoto Protocol signee

·         Plan Quisqueya Verde a plan that was initiated to help with the widespread deforestation in the country.

·         Various International Plans aimed at reforestation or mitigation efforts with international funds.

·         Various Resolutions and Laws aimed at protecting soils, air quality, and natural forests.

-RJ

US interests and viewpoints on the Dominican Republic and other Latin/Central/Caribbean nations with regards to development.

The United States currently is at a cross roads with its fellow neighbors in the Western Hemisphere.  It has recently signed free trade agreements ranging from DR-CAFTA and CAFTA. These agreements open up markets over time for all countries involved and may lead to increased economic prosperity or an increase in tensions as the loss of a economic sector in one country may lead to feelings of distrust and anger. Currently under the Obama Administration, the United States is aggressively trying to help develop its neighbors’ capacity for economic development. This reasoning can be found from a report from Mark Feierstein who is the Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean for USAID who in an address to the Foreign Relations committee of the United States Senate described the current administration’s goal with President Obama’s statement of  “creating the conditions where our assistance is no longer needed." (Feirestein 1) This sentiment has been reflected in the many lectures, interviews, and conversations that I have had in the Dominican Republic. It seems as if the emphasis is slowly being shifted from just financial based aid to helping the Dominican Republic and other Central American Countries develop their own trade capacities as to help not only facilitate their own economies but to allow the United States to have access to more markets that can help fuel its own economic growth. Also, there has been a noticeable shift from distributing funds solely to foreign governments to distributing funds to local entities that are better prepared to provide the right type of development that can lead to economic growth. This is evident in the statement “long-term development and job creation depend upon an active and vibrant private sector. By partnering with private companies, we not only leverage resources; we create durable enterprises that will provide long-term development dividends.” (Feirestein 1) It seems that if the United States has finally learned its lesson from solely distributing aid just because a country demonstrates a need because often this aid is wasted or misused with inefficient or corrupt governments. The focus seems to be placed on providing the aid to institutions that are directly involved with a local community. This approach has positives and negatives. On one hand the approach allows for a direct investment in developing local communities needs such as helping to create agricultural clusters, agricultural education, or promoting a certain types of agricultural technologies such as greenhouses.  The other side to this coin is that the government of that said country is left out in the cold and is often not on the same page with the institution that is sponsoring the aid project. This can cause contradictions in goals and efficiency issues that were mentioned in my first blog post regarding issues with agriculture in the Dominican Republic.  Overall however, these efforts are a positive for the United States since by developing a country like the Dominican Republic they boost a market for its own goods.  This is even more evident when considering fact that the Dominican Republic is one of the largest importers of US goods and according to CIA World Factbook even after the global economic crisis its economy “still remained one of the fastest growing in the region.” (The World Factbook).

-RJ

Reaction To Interview Questions

Reaction to interview questions:

The two individuals I have interviewed here both have worked in the development sector in the Dominican Republic. One is a former lawyer who is currently working on a project with USAID. The second man currently works for a management group and has previously worked for the United States government to help protect its interests in the Dominican Republic and is currently working on projects that are centered on free trade with DR-CAFTA. It is interesting to note that even though both men come from different areas with regards to development in the Dominican Republic they share some common viewpoints. This stems from the fact that the government has no real defined goals when it comes to agriculture. This is not surprising when one sees that tourism and the service industry booming in the country. What is also surprising is when Mr. Abreu criticizes NGO’s and private institutions. One of the issues that I thought was a little surprising during my trip here was the high criticism with regards to the government in the Dominican Republic, but little complaints against private organizations, NGO’s, and international governmental agencies.  But here Mr. Abreu not only criticizes the government on its empty promises to agriculture but other institutions for not focusing on long term projects and not trying to fully integrate with governmental policies which unfortunately do not seem to exist. When the viewpoints of these two individuals are put together it seems as though two things must occur to make the Dominican Republic more successful with regards to agricultural production. First, the government must make a comprehensive plan with regards to agriculture so that other institutions can align with their goals. Second, private sector institutions or foreign institutions should focus on more long-term strategies to develop agriculture. If these things are achieved it seems as though inefficiencies in the Dominican agricultural system could be vastly improved upon.

-RJ

Dominican Republic Economy: Overview

"The Dominican Republic has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, but in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer, due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. The economy is highly dependent upon the US, the destination for nearly 60% of exports. Remittances from the US amount to about a tenth of GDP, equivalent to almost half of exports and three-quarters of tourism receipts. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GDP, while the richest 10% enjoys nearly 40% of GDP. High unemployment and underemployment remains an important long-term challenge. The Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) came into force in March 2007, boosting investment and exports and reducing losses to the Asian garment industry. The growth of the Dominican Republic's economy slowed in 2008-09 because of the global recession, but still remained one of the fastest growing in the region."-CIA World Factbook: Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic Economy: Gross Domestic Product and Real Growth Rate

The Dominican Republic currently has the second largest economy in both the Carribean and Central American region.  At the end of 2010 the Dominican Republic report an increase in its real GDP, with a Real Growth Rate of 5.3%. In terms of GDP (PPP) the Dominican Republic is ranked 76 in the world. 

References: 1. CIA World Factbook, 2010 2. Lecture by Dr. Edgar Rojas, Feb 14 2011: The Economy of The Dominican Republic

Tiffany

Interview on topics interrelating Government and Agriculture in the Dominican Republic

RJ Naylor
Interview on topics interrelating Government and Agriculture in the Dominican Republic
2/17/2011
Mr. Abreu-Lecturer about Dominican Development in ISA

1. How does the Dominican Republic’s government work with private and International institutions to help develop agriculture?

The government is working together with both private and international institutions in several projects aimed at improving the competitiveness of agriculture through technology improvements and access to markets, but those initiatives are not achieving the desired results. We have then a very modern agriculture being managed by leaders of the private sector in the middle of an on average very inefficient agriculture depending on government aid.

2. Is the government and the private sector such as NGO’s and International institutions have conflicting goals for agriculture in the Dominican Republic?

In my opinion there are not conflicting goals since they seem to have the same goals, but have differences in the pace and commitment to the goals set. NGO´s depend too much on foreign grants and tend to change focus according to the sources of fund available, so it is difficult to achieve long term and measurable results. The private sector is to shy when it come to finance research or there activities that does not provide immediate results, being also to focused in the short term. The government seems to be more concern on public relations than on real and factual results and concentrating investment in some specific urban areas. The problems are not goals, but facts. In speeches agricultural is important to government, but we do not see it reflected in public policies instruments, like the national budget.

3. How do you think the private sector and the government can work together to improve agriculture in the Dominican Republic?

As in other sectors, politics should be put aside and the government should really commit to goal set together with the private sector. The government has failed so many times to act accordingly to the goals set after long and extended processes of consults, that the private sector does not trust the word of the government anymore and just try to take advantage with the relationship of public officers at all levels. We urgently need examples to follow but are not getting any. The agricultural sector is not currently a priority to the government, which is investing in public works only in the capital city and the agricultural ministry is in low profile and is not being properly funded. The Dominican agriculture urgently needs an authorized voice, since the interest groups of the sector are not working together and its representatives do not have the credibility and influence to change the government attitude. That needs to be changed.
Questions: Speaker from Santo Domingo who worked for US Govt.

1. What is the biggest challenge the United States poses to the Dominican Republic with respects to agriculture?

2. Do you believe that the government is doing the necessary things to improve the agriculture sector in the Dominican Republic?

3. What are the biggest challenges farmers face here with respect to agriculture? Funding? Government assistance? Land degradation? Organizational issues with NGOS and the government?


1. The biggest challenge: support the agricultural sector as the us government promised. Support trade capacity building to avoid the Dominican Republic creating a bad feeling against the US with regards to trade.

2. No. The DR Government is just protecting the Dominican agricultural sector, but it is not helping it to be more efficient.

3. Efficiency and market support. Management issues.

SWOT Analysis: Threats

Free Market Competition: In the last decade, the Dominican Republic has entered into free trade agreements with the US and Europe.  While free trade offers opportunities to access new export markets and less expensive imports, it also posses special problems for the developing countries that have fewer resources than their more developed trade partners.  Competition is increased substantially, reducing the commercial viability of traditional products.  When it becomes less expensive to import a product than to produce it locally, the local producer must switch to a more globally competitive crop or face great economic hardship.

Natural Disasters:  The Dominican Republic is subject to earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters that can destroy crops and livelihoods.  There is little insurance against such disasters, and experts predict weather-related disasters will only increase as global climate change accelerates.

Resource Degradation: Impoverished farmers must often make hard decisions between surviving for the time being, and protecting the productivity of the land for future generations.  During economic hard times, farmers may opt to deforest their land for timber money, plant inappropriate crops, or manage their crops in an unsustainable way.  Unfortunately, all of these activities lead to soil erosion and degradation, which seriously jeopardize future production.  Pollution is also a threat.  Agrochemical runoff, human and animal wastes, and trash are serious problems for rural areas and cities alike. This pollution leads to illness, decreases the local quality of life, and discourages tourism.

Increasing Land Prices:  As more and more Dominicans flock to crowded, dirty cities, the wealthiest of these residents are building villas in rural areas.  Although this development can employ people in building the houses and supplying them with high-quality furnishings, the local residents of these rural areas may suffer from skyrocketing land prices.  In some areas, this process of rural gentrification threatens to shut poor farmers out of their traditional hometowns. 

~Alexa