Maude Rachelle Pierre Luois, Haiti

1. Rebuilding livelihoods after the Earthquake
Uruguay, October 30, 2012
Maude Rachelle Pierre Louis, Haiti

2. Plan of Presentation
• Overview of Haiti
• Analysis of the situation in development
perspective
• Two different projects to make things happen:
o Project tractors
o PASAC Project
• Conclusion

3. Overview of Haiti
• Low investment in the agricultural sector, most important
sector in terms of employment
• Available agricultural land suited to mechanized cultivation is
largely limited to large land owners and the government
• Agricultural techniques based on Lowland agriculture and not
agriculture mountain despite of more than 75% of land in
slope and mountain
• Family agriculture
• Young population, a lot of needs…

4. Analysis of the situation in
development perspective
• 21st century: century of technology; century of
research development; century of
globalization…
• Hunger has become a global challenge

5. Post earthquake project:
Project tractors: Soil preparation and training in
farm machinery

6. Basic elements for this project
• Rapidity of the response (On Time Response
activity)
• Addressing key structural problems even in
urgent situation:
o Questioning the problem of agricultural
mechanization
o Valuing wasteland (like savane diane, 20,000
ha)

7. Objectives
 Improve and increase agricultural production with better
technology
 Job Creation for residents and displaced earthquake
 Knowledge transfer in farm machinery from Dominican
Republic to Haiti

8. Results obtained
Culture Yield before the Yield after the
project Kg /ha project Kg /ha
Sorghum 750 2,000
Maize 1,000 2,500
Black Bean 550 1,300
Cassava 10,000 20,000
Sweet potato 5,000 12,000
• 2,000 farmers helped in 3 departments to prepare on time
5,280 has; more than 125 people trained in driving and
maintaining a tractor; 4,900 people with small job; draft
available on the reform of the agricultural mechanization

9. Haiti post earthquake support program
for Food and employment generation in
affected areas (PASAC Project)

11. Objectives
• Improve agricultural production through
infrastructure rehabilitation, agricultural
inputs and establishment of community
gardens
• Job creation
• Strengthening human/social capital and
entrepreneurship

12. Basic elements for this project
• Capacity building: Empower institutions involved in the
communities (local cooperative credit to pay the workers; 2
local institutions to coordinate activities; irrigator’s
associations receive support to rehabilitate the systems)
• Medium and long term action: train local group of farmers to
produce seeds of black beans; establishment of 26 fruit
orchards and about 500 small gardens for nutrition purpose
• Development of synergy in a consortium with clearly defined
roles

13. Results obtained
• Capacity of the households to support the increase of about 20% of
the usual size due to the Increased production through:
o 9,000 has of land rehabilitated in watersheds over the irrigated
areas
o 13 irrigated systems rehabilitated for the development of 3,000 ha
o Additional income for 20,000 people with small jobs
• Better organization of the commercialization with 22,5 Km of rural
road rehabilitated ; open market producers (vegetable production)
• New trades are introduced like grafters, machinery operators
• New avenues of development are explored
• 10 micro enterprises got finance to restart their business

14. CONCLUSION: Let us address the
situation differently
• Methodology based on a medium or a long
term perspective gives better results.
• In protracted crisis, who survives
better?

15. The answer is: informal sector
We Need:
o To make a choice for conceptual break: formalize
the economy under the old system or rethink the
economy, based on the adapted and highly survival
system in the informal sector?
o To rethink communication in development project:
the most important is not what you say but what the
others understand
o To develop the mentality of using resources available
and make prevention (costs less)

16. Thank You
Gracias
Merci