The leading investors are from Spain, Canada, France, Italy and Mexico, in that order. Sugar is the major crop, and the second most important earner of foreign exchange after tourism. However, the industry has consistently failed to reach the targets set. Cuba s dream of a 10 mn tonne raw sugar harvest has never been reached and by 1998 output had fallen steadily to 3.2 mn tonnes, the lowest for 50 years. Poor weather and shortages of fertilizers, oil and spare parts cut output.
Citrus is an important agricultural export.
Cuba became a member of the International Coffee Agreement in 1985 and produces about 22,000 tonnes of coffee a year but exports are minimal. Tobacco is a traditional crop with Cuban cigars world famous, but this too has suffered from lack of fuel, fertilizers and other inputs. Production is recovering with the help of Spanish credits and importers from France and Britain. Diversification away from sugar is a major goal, with the emphasis on production of food for domestic use because of the shortage of foreign exchange for imports. The beef herd declined to four million in the first half of the 1990s because of the inability to pay for imports of grains, fertilizers and chemicals.