Economic recovery for 4,500 farm families and fishermen in the Northwest

Haiti Libre:

Haiti - Canada : Economic recovery for 4,500 farm families and fishermen in the Northwest

With financial assistance from the Government of Canada of $400,000 and technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR), 4,500 vulnerable farm families, were able to revive their agricultural and fishing activities, as part of the project “Strengthening the Resilience of Farm Households Affected by Drought and Hurricane Matthew, in the North West” in the communes of Baie de Henne, Bombardopolis and Môle Saint Nicolas.

This project allowed to boost the agricultural production of 2,000 families living from family farming, of ,000 women (60% family heads) belonging to 10 groups of women farmers in vegetable production and 500 fishermen whose the fishing equipment were lost when Matthew passed.

Support for agricultural production :
At the beginning of the 2017 spring cropping season, each of the 2,000 households benefiting from the seed assistance project received 500 sweetpotato cuttings, 300 cassava cuttings, 8 kg of Lima bean seed (pigeon peas in Creole) and 5 kg of corn seed. This assistance enabled each beneficiary to produce more than 800 kg of diversified foodstuffs.

Mr. Sonel Leblanc, North West Departmental Director of Agriculture, noted, “Small family farmers were discouraged because they had nothing to plant when they had just spent more than 2 seasons with very low yields crops, because of drought and hurricane Matthew. Varieties donated by FAO are early and drought tolerant. For example, the sweet potato variety “mizè malere” has allowed recipients to have a good harvest 2 and a half months after planting, while the traditional variety has a cycle of 5 to 6 months. It is so much appreciated that the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) had to buy all the cuttings produced by Seed Crop Production Groups (GPAS), supervised by FAO, for distribution in other localities not covered by the project.

Support for fishermen :
As part of the project was also distributed fishing equipment to 500 fishermen grouped into 5 associations selected to Môle Saint Nicolas (200 fishermen), Baie de Henne (200) and Bombardopolis (100). Each association has also benefited from a boat engine. With this assistance, the fishing opportunities of each fisherman have doubled (about 70 kg / week).

Support to vegetable production :
FAO has also supported groups of women farmers in vegetable production, training that has enabled 2,000 women leaders of Community Based Organizations to improve their nutritional, food and health practices. In addition, distributed vegetable seeds, particularly cabbage, okra and peppers, enabled members of the group to diversify the diet of their families and generate income by selling vegetables.

HL/ HaitiLibre

Share:

Author: `