Hurricane Sandy Destroys Crops in Caribbean

NASA Satellite Shows Hurricane Sandy Over Bahamas

While the vast majority of news reports focused on Hurricane Sandy’s devastation to the eastern seaboard of the United States, the superstorm also ravaged parts of the Caribbean, sparking fears of food shortages where food insecurity was already a concern.

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According to numerous reports including the BBC and the Associated Press, agriculture ministry officials say up to 70% of crops — such as corn, avacados, bananas and plantains  — were obliterated in the south of Haiti.

In Jamaica, the Category 1 hurricane damaged the country’s famed coffee crop, as well as bananas, coconut and peppers. Nearly 11,000 of Jamaica’s farmers have been affected by Sandy with some 1,500 hectares destroyed, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Ian Hayles, the Jamaica Observer news site reported. Livestock losses also mounted.

Reuters reported that Cuba’s coffee crop has been decimated, and the storm’s high winds and downed trees also dealt a blow to plantations and processing centers. The news agency now estimates coffee output at below 4,000 tonnes, “the lowest in more than a century.”

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture has yet to issue a statement on how U.S. crops have been affected, although major U.S. agricultural regions were largely out of the hurricane’s path.

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