Hurricanes destroy crops, leave people jittery

By Patricia Grogg

HAVANA, (IPS/GIN) — In Cuba the shockwaves left by hurricanes Gustav and Ike will prevent any peace of mind for people in the most affected areas and in the whole country for a long time to come.
Cubans are asking themselves if the worst is really over.
"The hurricane season lasts through November,” said Georgina Fernández anxiously. “If another one strikes, what will become of us?" she asked. Fernández lives in Havana but has relatives in Pinar del Rio, one of the provinces hit hardest by Gustav and then Ike between Aug. 30 and Sept. 9.
Fernández's fears are not without foundation. During the Atlantic cyclone activity season, which begins in June, the most dangerous months for Cuba in terms of storm frequency tend to be October, September, and August, in that order.
In the central province of Santa Clara, small farmer Rubén Torres lost his plantain and cassava harvest, as well as his avocado trees. "I'm thankful to have saved the rice I planted," he said after estimating that Ike's direct path was within roughly 62 miles from his farm, out to sea.
"I think the situation is serious, because if the hurricane caused us damage from that distance, imagine what it must be like in the provinces where it made landfall," Torres said in a telephone interview with IPS. According to his calculations, however quickly farmers plant now to recoup their losses, their produce will not be available until well into the first half of 2009.
Meanwhile, vegetables are becoming scarce, and consumers complain on a daily basis about price increases, especially in the farmers' markets where prices are set by supply and demand.
Cuba was still assessing the cost of the damages Gustav caused in the west of the island on Aug. 30, when Ike entered the east of the country on the night of Sep. 7, swept over the island, and then drifted out to sea. There, it picked up strength before returning to the island the following day, sweeping across virtually the whole country on Sep. 8 and 9.
An official report gave a preliminary estimate of $5 billion for the losses caused by Ike and Gustav. Seven people were killed, dozens were injured, thousands of acres of crops were ravaged, nearly half a million homes were partially or totally destroyed, and essential infrastructure was seriously damaged.
The impact of the hurricanes exacerbated the economic and financial problems in the country, which urgently needs to increase food production and reduce imports. The government had already warned that owing to high prices on the international market, the cost of ensuring the basic food basket and fuels would be considerably higher in 2008.
According to official statistics released in June, Cuba spent $1.47 billion on 3.4 million tons of food in 2007. At present prices, the cost would be $2.47 billion. At the same time, the island's consumption of 158,000 barrels of oil per day now costs $11.6 million a day, 32 percent more than in 2007.
Above and beyond academic debates, the government has accelerated the process of receiving applications from private farmers and cooperatives interested in being granted the use of idle or poorly exploited state land to grow crops or produce livestock.  The decision to grant new plots of land to farmers is one of the changes promised by Cuban President Raúl Castro in order to boost yields and increase food production.
But academic researchers consider that it is also necessary to "release productive forces" by establishing clear rules, expanding the market in order to bolster production and work, eliminating excessive centralization and revoking financial and productive restrictions on companies, among other measures.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture and Sugar Ministries have made public a set of 85 measures to organize the recovery process. These measures include prioritizing available resources for areas that ensure increased production as soon as possible and the institution of payment systems that will accelerate the island's recovery.