Live and Learn as much food production as possible. But the trade-off for high-yield
harvests was relinquishing self-reliance and forgoing resilience in the
face of unforeseen events.
Post-hurricane, the only option, they concluded, was to rebuild. Their
recovery would rely on support from their own governments, who in
turn would rely on international loans and monetary relief.
As much as it could, my organization, the Inter-American Institute
for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), assisted in the response. But as
time passed, life went on and my memory might have faded, had there
not been an Ibero-American Conference held later in Havana, Cuba.
The theme was food and agriculture. To ensure that all Spanish- and
Portuguese-speaking nations could participate, IICA helped finance
the travel of representatives from Central America. I was invited to
accompany IICA’s director general.
Once in Cuba, I set out to spend time with individuals whose coun-
tries Mitch had unceremoniously turned inside out. Their stories were
raw; the challenges they faced remained daunting. Setbacks in secur-
ing aid had delayed rebuilding roads and infrastructure, reestablishing
production, and reclaiming old markets. The daily grind of uncertainty
had taken its toll. As they talked about what lay ahead, a cloud of quiet
desperation hung low over our conversations.
Eight years earlier, Cubans had similarly been thrust into their
own crisis. For decades, the country had supplied the Soviet Union with
sugar, citrus, and nickel in exchange for wheat, petroleum, chemicals,
and machinery. Then, apparently without any warning, the Soviets had
nullified the arrangement. The region’s largest importer of petroleum
and agricultural chemicals suddenly had none. Modern farming prac-
tices no longer worked; tractors sat idle, rusting in fields. Making the
crisis worse, poor weather had dried up ready supplies of fresh water.
Government efforts to boost productivity on state-owned agricultural
farms had failed. From 990 to 994 , the average Cuban lost twenty
pounds.
Yet by the time of my visit, despair had gradually given way to
determination. State control of farmland had been partially relaxed.