Demystifying and Identifying Opportunities for US-Cuba Agricultural Relations

Citation:

Perez, Allyson Rose. 2017. “Demystifying and Identifying Opportunities for US-Cuba Agricultural Relations.” WCFIA Undergraduate Thesis Conference. Cambridge, MA: Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. Copy at http://www.tinyurl.com/ywktjm7w

Date Presented:

February 3

Abstract:

This thesis tackles the reality facing the US-Cuba agricultural trade relationship through the eyes of both the United States and Cuba, analyzing the very different actions each country has taken while facing the same dilemma. Cuba imports a majority of the food consumed there, with some estimates as high as 70 percent, and since the passage of the Trade Sanction Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, the United States has been a leading partner in Cuba's agricultural imports. However, since the fiscal year 2009, the United States has fallen from Cuba's leading partner to the third through fifth depending on the year. In Chapter One, I introduce this fact along with the methodology I will use to answer my research question: Despite the normalization of diplomatic relations, why is this the case? In Chapter Two, I analyze US foreign policy towards Cuba in regards to agricultural trade, with a focus on the post-TSRA period, analyzing the trajectory of agricultural exports to Cuba and the increased interest in agricultural trade on the US side since the normalization of relations. In Chapter Three, I focus on the various political and economic changes in Cuba since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s that have affected the Cuban food system, with an emphasis on changes occurring since the presidency of Raul Castro, which may have been contributing to this decline in US agricultural imports to Cuba. I am just coming off of a research trip to gather information for Chapter Three in Cuba, so my findings and argument are still developing. I am also still working on my argument for Chapter Two; any and all feedback on these issues is welcome.
 

See also: 2017
Last updated on 01/18/2018