It is a well-known fact that the agricultural sector in Haiti is not in a very good shape. Natural calamities like hurricanes and earthquakes make things only worse. The exodus of the rural citizens to the urban areas had a major impact on the agriculture on Haiti. A combination of several important factors has been diminishing the Haitian agriculture, especially the food crops in the last couple of decades. This situation led to the rise in food imports from other countries, which eventually increased an economic turmoil. Currently, Haiti couldn’t meet the domestic demand for food due to the decline in its agricultural sector.
Haiti Agriculture in numbers
The agricultural production used to be decent in 1960s and 70s, but it gradually declined later on. In 1962, the coffee production peaked to 43,600 tons, which is the highest as well. But, in 1999 the production of coffee in Haiti dropped down to 28,000 tons, which is around a 25% decline. While sugarcane production on the other hand, which is also the second best cash crop has been on a declining journey too. It is estimated that there was a $2,420 loss in the Haiti agriculture stream.
In the mid 1990s, a drastic change has happened in the Haitian agriculture sector, especially the rice. The Clinton Administration has made a deal with the government of Haiti which resulted in the drastic discount in the prices of rice imported from the US. This phenomenon led the Haitians losing interest in the rice farming. Later Clinton has made a statement saying that “It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake.” in the March of 2010. Whatever may the reason is, the Haitian agriculture has been declining for several decades.
Importance of Rice
Rice is the mainstay of food for the people in Haiti. The unfortunate thing here is, only twenty percent of the overall rice demand is produced locally, whereas the rest is being imported from the other countries, mainly US. It is very important for Haiti to change this scenario in order to support its economy with the means of agricultural revenue. Unless the development of the agricultural sector takes place, the economy is in a deep trouble.
The role of ‘Seeds of Hope’
The Seeds of Hope project aims to change the agricultural situation by focusing on national production and national consumption.. It has the vision to support and encourage the Haitians to achieve self-sufficiency through agricultural development. With imported foods made less expensive than organic national production, farmers usually don’t have the means to engage on this competitive market. This project gives out approximately 80 types of vegetables such as carrots, peppers, okra and many more. Additionally, the Seeds of Hope also offers 9 kinds of fruits like watermelon. 11 types of herbs such as cilantro, parsley, and a few types of bean seeds are also on offer. With a staggering amount of two million seeds a year, the Seeds of Hope is aiming to bring back the agriculture on to the right track. Helping the farmers decreasing production cost by providing seeds, and fertilizers can give us a fair chance to fight food importation. Finally, this project also tries to help with animal farming as well where needed.
