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.
Production is now less intensive and numbers are beginning to rise again.
Similarly, milk production is also increasing. In 1993, in a new agricultural reform process, the Cuban state handed over more than 28,250 sq km of land in usufruct to workers in state enterprises. The opening of farmers markets in 1994 has helped to stimulate diversification and greater availability of foodstuffs, although shortages still remain. Drought in the east in 1998 reached crisis proportions and was followed by Hurricane Georges and flooding, all affecting crops of beans, grains, vegetables and fruit. The sudden withdrawal of oil supplies when trade agreements with Russia had to be renegotiated and denominated in convertible currencies, was a crucial factor in the collapse of the Cuban economy.