After nine months of drought, the fall season finally brings some long awaited rain for the farmers in the Northwest department of Haiti, a CWS priority area identified as the department with the highest food insecurity rate in the nation. The lack of rain has been an issue of increasing concern in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic over the past months.
In June, the minister of agriculture specifically requested that organizations assist the government in investing in access to water through construction of cisterns, drilling of wells, irrigation systems, etc. Changing rain patterns are expected to continue; climate changes are clearly felt in Haiti.
This October, it has been five years since cholera was introduced to Haiti, allegedly by improper disposal of sewage from a U.N. Nepal unit that infected a river in the Artibonite department. Since then, 745,000 people have fallen ill and 9,000 died.
In the same year that cholera arrived in Haiti, 2010, the U.N. declared access to clean water and sanitation a human right. This continues to be of utmost importance in order to finally end cholera. Water is life, water gives hope, people say. The only water source in the community of Lamontay nan Jil is reached over a difficult and steep path. It has turned into a meager stream with a line of people fighting to fill up their gallons. The next water source is a day walk away. People walk further and longer to get water of mediocre quality.
CWS responds to this need in partnership with three local organizations by constructing water cisterns and drilling wells, while at the same time encouraging vegetable production next to the cisterns. Thanks to the cisterns and wells, people have close access to water for domestic use (laundry, cooking, bathing), as well as agricultural use (vegetable gardens).
Due to the prolonged drought, this year’s spring harvests failed at an estimated 90 percent in the Northwest; all corn and beans were lost, while some of the more drought-resistant manioc and peas survived, providing some food for consumption, but not enough for sales. Farmers are now preparing their land to sow, but have neither seeds nor the money to buy seeds.
The lack of rain and consequent failed harvests has also led to an increase in prices of food products and seeds. People have reduced meals to one per day and the rate of malnourishment has increased. Animals are dying due to lack of water and food and deforestation worsens as more people produce charcoal as an alternative and rapid source of income. Several schools started functioning weeks after the official start of the school year, with parents being unable to pay school fees. The rural exodus continues towards cities, the Dominican Republic or the Bahamas, with people risking their lives in small boats that are filled far above capacity.
CWS and local partners encourage the farmers to keep faith, but their faces show how this extremely difficult situation draws on their energy, courage and hope. CWS is making available funds for four agricultural cooperatives in the Northwest, with a total of 2,435 members, to purchase seeds and plant now that the rains are finally coming. For the longer term, CWS is planning to purchase silos to facilitate seed storage for the cooperative members, invest in product transformation, income generating community initiatives, microcredit, tree nurseries, and water infrastructure, as well as continuing to provide technical assistance.
Earlier this year and last year, CWS facilitated several cooperatives to open a community stores. Rather than needing to pay for transportation to go to a store, running the risk of accidents and theft along the way, at least community members now have close access to basic needs.
On the occasion of World Food Day 2015, we hope that water and food will no longer be luxury items in Haiti. As 2 Kings 4 shows us how God intervened during a time of hunger in Israel to multiply bread and turn bad food into good food, let us hope that Haiti as well will be able to multiply local agricultural production, turn bad water into clean water, and have food available for everyone.