Haiti

Programme Summary

In 2008, our partners along with over 200 farmers planted approximately 250,000 forest and fruit trees in Leogane then in 2009, due to an increasing network of people on the ground and organizations supporting the Haiti programme over 1,000,000 trees were planted along the Arcadine coast.

Partners Network

St. Boniface Haiti Foundation/RATRAP - Lambi Fund of Haiti - Biocarburants d'Haiti - Ayiti Gouvenans (AG) - Rural Haiti Project

Background

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. It also has one of the most degraded environments. Once known as "The Pearl of the Antilles’ it now has forested mountains that have been left bare and its once beautiful lush landscapes left barren where less than 2% of the countries original forests remain. Deforestation and lack of fertility in the soil has been a result of people’s dependency on wood for fuel and charcoal.  Hurricanes, flooding and furious currents of water surging down the mountains have caused further dramatic implications. There are little groundwater supplies and the land is unworkable. There are few resources left to support the Haitians everyday lives, these desperate people have been left with few resources to support their basic human needs. Haiti is fast becoming a no man’s land.

The Caribbean country once a place of beauty, has experienced political violence throughout its history and now with a degraded environment too there is little hope left. Over  80% of the population lives in poverty and over 50% in abject poverty. There is massive unemployment and over 65% depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.  A dependency that simply cannot be met. The Haitians agricultural needs are constantly threatened because of the degraded environment providing little hope for the future. It seems the people have, like their environment been left destroyed. The development of this country is almost as stagnant as the corrupt government and international donors have done very little to help. Decades of Social instability has weighed heavy on the country too.  Four years ago the UN peacekeeping force was able to bring relative peace to the troubled Haiti. However the country needs to maintain stability and work towards development. In order to do this they need support from international organisations and donors.

The Response

The urgent needs of the country and communties has been addressed since 2002 with thanks to partners who have been working with farmers to implement ways to reforest the ruined hillsides, and to provide hope to the Hatians agricultural future. The focus of the program is to plant trees in order to produce much needed sustainable wood and re introduce farming practices and breathe life back into a delapidated community.

A major program is currently underway to reforest large portions of the Arcadine coast, particularly in the degraded mountains in between Cabaret and St. Marc, plus numerous projects throughout the country.  Multi-purpose fast growing trees are bring planted such as Leucaena leucocephala, Swietenia macrophylla, Jatropha curcas, and Moringa oleifera, which will grow on the degraded lands. In addition, a training and resource centre has been opened in Arcahaie. Anyone looking to engage in tree planting activities in Haiti will be able to visit the office, take part in trainings, and receive seeds and technical assistance.