Haiti has long suffered from political turmoil, recurrent natural disasters and extreme income inequality. Weak institutions and lack of infrastructure and skilled personnel severely limit development capacity. With high levels of soil erosion and land degradation, Haiti is also acutely vulnerable to climate change.

Haiti imports up to 60 per cent of its food and 80 per cent of its rice. Even before the 2010 earthquake, nearly 2 million Haitians struggled to get enough to eat. About half of the country’s 9 million people live on less than a dollar a day.

“Central to the lack of development – and the nation’s never-ending battle with poverty and instability – is the risk factor,” says IFAD’s country programme manager for Haiti, Marco Camagni. “Reduce the risk profile of your average Haitian, and you reduce the risk for the nation. And the best way to reduce risk is to protect natural resources, build savings, diversify incomes and increase education.”

Since 1978, IFAD has funded seven programmes and projects in Haiti at a total cost of US$160 million, with US$90 million in IFAD funding. Between 2008 and 2010, IFAD provided US$10.2 million for seeds and tools, enabling 240,000 smallholder farmers to improve their food security and their incomes. IFAD’s mandate complements the government’s priorities: Haiti’s 2007 poverty reduction strategy paper identifies agriculture as the first pillar of pro-poor growth, and its agriculture plan emphasizes creation of economic opportunities for rural people.

Improving a country’s resilience is a lengthy process. It involves developing human capital and physical infrastructure, and grass-roots organizations and community involvement are key. IFAD’s Haiti country programme, which focuses especially on women, includes:

• Helping communities formulate development plans and collaborative irrigation management schemes
• Introducing technologies and equipment to improve agricultural productivity, especially irrigation infrastructure and roads
• Supporting the establishment of community gardens and small livestock projects
• Promoting access to financial services by setting up local microfinance groups

The 2010 earthquake was Haiti’s third emergency in two years. In the aftermath of the quake, IFAD identified three major challenges: First, in the most affected zones, major efforts were needed to reconstruct livelihoods and rebuild capacity for food production. Second, in the areas not devastated directly but facing a significant inflow of migrants without previous experience in agricultural production, innovative solutions to tackle food security and employment had to be found. The third challenge was to ensure the right balance between short-term needs and longer-term development.

IFAD’s immediate response began with a US$50 million debt relief programme. We then provided a grant of US$2.5 million for post-earthquake irrigation systems rehabilitation, food security and employment generation. This grant programme will reach 12,000 households representing about 60,000 people in the Departments of West and Nippes (Southern Haiti), the areas most directly affected by the earthquake. Since its launch, roughly 66,000 miles of irrigation systems have been rehabilitated, and over 120,000 days’ worth of work generated. In addition, the annual work programmes of the three ongoing projects in the country wereadjusted to respond to new needs of beneficiary families and to boost agricultural production and income in some of the country’s poorest areas.