SAI Newsletter February 2011

Mr. Carlos "Felito" Zorilla, a Dominican Sugarcane Producer Shares his Farm's Improvements through Project Cultivar

Mr. Carlos "Felito" Zorilla is an independent sugarcane producer who lives and works in the eastern region of the Dominican Republic, the heartland of the country's sugarcane production. Mr. Zorilla is one of 15 sugarcane producers or "colonos," who have participated in SAI's Project Cultivar, a USDOL-funded project, which seeks to help local agricultural producers in the CAFTA-DR region improve their compliance with internationally accepted labor standards. SAI Program Associate Eliza Wright interviewed Mr. Zorilla to discuss his experiences with Project Cultivar:

SAI: As the owner, or the "colono" of this farm, could you explain the historical origin of this word "colono"?

Zorilla: I am a colono. I have my own land to grow sugarcane to sell to the sugar mill refineries. The word "colono" comes from the time when the colonizers came. They introduced sugarcane to the Dominican Republic and formed small groups where they planted sugarcane and sent it to the sugar mills for processing. Through the years, colonias (or colonies) became the name of the Dominican sugarcane plantations, so a colono is the person who has a colonia for planting sugarcane.

My father's colonia is the one I am tending to now, he is the one who started it. When I was younger, my grandfather also had a small colonia that has increased in size -from generation to generation. There are more than three generations of colonos in my family.

SAI: Why did you decide to participate in Project Cultivar?

Zorilla: In 1998, the privatization of the sugar industry began, and the state-run sugar mills were passed into the hands of Dominican and foreign companies. Many were unsuccessful and left the country. The sugar industry remained in a passive state, with no movement. In 2005, we made the decision to stop planting some of the sugarcane and instead used another crop. But then in 2009, a Spanish company joined with some Dominican investors and they established a new sugar mill called Alcoholes Finos Dominicanos. Since Alcoholes Finos Dominicanos is a private company, myself and other colonos made the decision to work with SAI to study the new labor and environmental norms to support the company's plans to earn SA8000 certification (SA8000).

We began to take courses and workshops so that we and the other colonos could follow good labor practices and take better care of the environment. That is when we met Mr. David Figueroa (Administrator from Center for Cultural Research and Support - CIAC), which is a local partner of SAI in the Dominican Republic), and he delivered training and talks to help familiarize us with the requirements, and good practices required in these new times.

Above all, we believed that we should take care of the environment where we are raised with zero forced labor and zero child labor. Children should go to school to be educated and the workers should have a full system of protection such as gloves, hats, glasses and they should have, above all, a comfortable health system, drinkable water, and clean bathrooms.

SAI: That is great, so how would you describe your experience with Project Cultivar?

Zorilla: We are very pleased to have the support from Project Cultivar. It has helped us to make improvements with our employer conduct as well as with the efficiency of our workplace. For example, a worker that is treated for parasites will not suffer from pain in his stomach and will be able to work better-- this can be avoided through good hygiene practice, and access to a clean latrine where they can take care of their needs. That is what we have been learning in the courses, these good practices, from which we, the colonos, are understanding our workers better.

Currently, people have drinking water so that they bathe and have access to a clean latrine. Before, they had to go into the field, and they didn't have a place to bathe or take care of their needs. Last harvest, we didn't have any of those things. But during this harvest, we have installed a well for clean water. Before they had to bring it in a can from a river which is at least a kilometer away.

SAI: How many Project Cultivar workshops have you attended with CIAC? How have you benefited from the material discussed?

Zorilla: We went to two that they carried out at Alcoholes Finos, two at the sugar mill Ingenio Consuelo, and two more at the Central University. Every time they have a course, I try to attend.

Prior to working with Cultivar, we dealt with some bad practices on the farm. For example, because we didn't have the resources to make a latrine or well, there was no latrine or a place where workers could practice clean hygiene or have drinking water. When the workers finished their work, they did not have water to bathe, they had to lay down dirty [from the day's work]. How can they sleep well like that? So these courses have helped us to learn how to manage our colonias so that the workers can give their best.

SAI: What other issues did you discuss in the course?

Zorilla: The problem with migration and the problem for a lot of workers that were born here is that they have not been declared, nor have an identity card because either their parents could not get one, or either parent is undocumented. There are Dominican workers, but the majority are Haitian immigrants who have come to cut sugarcane. In order to get social security in our country, it is required to have an identity card. Even though some were born here, they do not have an identity card and cannot be registered to receive social security. It is one of the most difficult problems here. So we have had to look for a solution this harvest to resolve this problem.

As a result of meeting together and talking with each other in the workshops, we have asked the Social Security Institute about registration. We are looking for a way to register them so that the workers can benefit from this system too. This step is one of the successes that we have had. People have told us and we understood that this would not be possible, because it was a big change. And it was a change, as we say here "from the earth to the moon," a very big change. But as a result of attending the workshops, we have seen that a lot of things can be done with a little bit of effort, and that you don't need to have a lot of things in order to be able to achieve things; you just need knowledge. It wasn't like what we used to say before, "No way! How are we going to do it? This cannot be done." But it is possible. In the courses, we have come away from Cultivar knowing that yes, we can, [s�, se puede]. (Mr. Zorilla continues to work with Project Cultivar to resolve the documentation and social security issue for his workers.)

SAI: Where is your colonia, or production area, and how big is it?

Zorilla: My colonia is in the province called "El Seibo," in the section called Mata de Palma. It is in the center of the division between the state of San Pedro de Macor�s and El Seibo. It is the sugarcane area in the eastern part of the Dominican Republic.

We are small. On my farm, when it is time to cut the sugarcane, I contract through the sugar mill 18 to 20 men. My permanent workers are the tractor driver and a foreman (my uncle) and someone to weigh the sugarcane. In total we are around 21 to 22 people.

My planting area right now, since the industry has been deteriorating, is 1,200 national tareas (629 square meters/0.18 equals 1 national tarea). The sugar industry at this moment is experiencing peaks again in the international price of sugar. So now we have more opportunity. Before I had 3,000 national tareas of sugarcane planted. I converted 1,800 into grazing land for cattle and another crop, because sugarcane was not profitable until the market changed. Raising cattle is not as lucrative as sugarcane, but one gets by. But when you can't plant because there isn't anyone who will buy your sugarcane, well...then you have to do something else to subsist. Subsistence is what you are looking for.

SAI: What are some of the challenges you face as a colono?

Zorilla: The biggest challenge is being able to support ourselves without knowing if a sugar mill is willing to process what you produce when it is ready to be cut. Or, if we find a mill that will process it, we have the problem of payment. They may not pay you in full, and all your work will not cover the cost of production; the costs may be higher than the sale price. Lately, we have had to reduce our costs and just cultivate what we can. I think that we are going to be able to resolve this problem through this establishment of new sugar mills, such as Alcoholes Finos, which has begun installation in the Mata de Palma section. We are 5 kilometers from them, more or less. So there, I already have the advantage of bringing my sugarcane there and I know that they will pay me for it. And also right now there is another Spanish company which has rented the Porvenir sugar mill, which is another new hope.

SAI: Can you describe a typical day in the life of a sugarcane worker?

Zorilla: The workers wake up more or less at 6:00AM or 7:00AM and go to the fields to cut sugarcane. At noon they stop, eat, and go back to the field. They cut between 2 and 2-1/2 tons a day. A good day is 3 tons of sugarcane per worker. Here they pay by the ton. There is no set schedule, meaning the workers work until they want to and try to cut as much as they can because the more they cut, the more they earn.

SAI: How many years have you worked in harvesting sugarcane?

Zorilla:I am 52 years old and ever since I was 5, I used to follow my dad around our land. After my studies, we went out to the fields to harvest sugarcane. That's how we did it...off to study, then off to work. My dad taught me the motto, "in order to get ahead, you have to study and work and save." You cannot spend everything you get.

SAI: What else did your dad teach you?

Zorilla: My dad instilled in me [the practice of] going to the fields. Besides the fact that he taught us and sent us to school and later to university to study, I had to go with him to work in the field. He taught me how to work in the field, and we have followed that tradition.

I love the country, and I love nature, and I have followed that path. I am a campesino. Even though I was raised in town, when I am not in the country, I feel bad.

SAI: Do you want your children to continue the colono tradition?

Zorilla:I have girls, but just like me, they like the country. I hope that at least one will stay to tend to the farm. Here in the Dominican Republic, both daughters and sons have taken over and continued the tradition of the colonos, not just the sons. We have the example of there being colonos and colonas. So they (my daughters) might carry on our family tradition.

This interview was conducted in Spanish and translated. For more information, please contact Eliza Wright at EWright@sa-intl.org.