
We were privileged to have a visit by President Bill Clinton to our tree nursery near Gonaives on March 10, 2013. He was there with an agricultural investment delegation of key executives and investors to highlight Haiti’s agricultural sector. For more about the visit, check out my blog “President Clinton Visits Smallholder Farmers Alliance in Haiti.”
Clinton Foundation Grant
In the course of the delegation’s visit to Haiti, the Clinton Foundation announced a $150,000 grant to the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA). The grant will support SFA’s efforts at growth, operations, and sustainability in Gonaives-including the planting and maintaining of 150,000 trees and improvements to nursery operations.
Contract to Sell Sorghum
This week a contract was signed for the farmers in our Gonaives cooperative to sell up to 100 metric tons of sorghum to the Heineken/Brana brewery in Haiti by the end of 2013. We have partnered with them on a test plot where four different varieties of sorghum are being grown. The test plot is also be used to train farmers in techniques to increase sorghum yields.
Tractor from China
Regards,
Hugh Locke
Co-founder and President, Smallholder Farmers Alliance; author of The Haiti Experiment