employment opportunities and rural-urban migration have contributed to a general tightening of rural labor markets and labor shortages for low-wage agricultural tasks are relatively new phenomena.

**Table I. 5  Dominican Republic Economically Active Population Total & Agriculture 1980-1999**

||1980<br>millions|1990<br>millions|1999<br>millions|Growth Rate<br>1980-1990 %|Growth Rate<br>1990-1999 %|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Total|2.10|2.86|3.64|3.1|2.7|
|Agriculture|0.682|0.711|0.634|0.4|-1.3|
|% Share Employed<br>Agriculture|32%|25%|17%|||
|% Share GDP in Agriculture|16%|14%|11%|||

Source: ECLAC (2001) Seasonality of agricultural labor demand is particularly pronounced due to the rainfed nature of most Dominican agriculture and the inherent seasonality in production – most notably in traditional export commodities (like coffee and cocoa). This seasonality contributes to seasonal unemployment and migration of labor. In some regions, the coffee and cocoa harvesting seasons overlap and compliment work in other crops to provide continual employment of migrants who follow harvest cycles. Migrants are among the country’s poorest workers, but agricultural laborers outside the migrant stream also tend to be poor. Seasonality of agricultural production and widespread small landholdings mean that most farmers seek additional sources of employment and income. This is the case for many coffee and cocoa producers.

Although difficult to measure, unemployment and under-employment are characteristic of many rural areas in the Dominican Republic. Traditional areas of agricultural production such as the Cibao Valley area in the north central part of the country (the valley is the traditional “breadbasket” of the Dominican Republic, and coffee and cocoa are produced on the mountains) tend to have a greater number of unemployed and seasonally unemployed workers than areas that more recently introduced intensive agricultural activity, such as the Nizao area in the south. In these intensive agricultural areas the boom in fruit and vegetable production has resulted in practically full employment of the farm labor force, and diversification together with widespread use of irrigation has reduced the seasonality of labor demand. According to a recent ECLAC (2001) study, because of alternative employment opportunities, there have been increasing shortages of inexpensive labor, particularly for coffee.

A major influence on labor markets and wages in the Dominican Republic is the existence of a relatively large amount of Haitian migrants, some residing legally and others illegally (Schiff, 2001). Most Haitians in the Dominican Republic are uneducated and have limited skills, and many work in construction and agricultural enterprises. In agriculture, most Haitians work as seasonal labor for the traditional export commodities. It has been reported that: “Many Dominican farm and other employers are complaining of labor shortages—an estimated 80% of Dominican Republic construction workers are Haitians, and they report earning $5 to $8 a day. Dominican coffee growers employ about 35,000 Haitians and 15,000 Dominicans to harvest coffee, and they complained of labor shortages because of the deportations. Haitians harvest an estimated 80% of Dominican coffee, ... and workers earn about $3 for each 70-pound box of coffee beans they pick.” (Migration International, 2000) The issue of Haitian migrants, their rights, and abuses of their rights has been contentious in the Dominican Republic. These issues exist and have important impacts on rural labor markets and 13