AMERICA/HAITI - Six months after the earthquake the country needs still more help with agriculture

Friday, 16 July 2010

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Port-au-Prince (Agenzia Fides) – Six months after the devastating quake while timely food assistance and agricultural inputs helped avert a post-earthquake food crisis in Haiti, insufficient funding for agriculture continues to hamstring efforts to improve food security, local food production and provide income opportunities in rural areas. "Most of the response has been focussing on the urban aspect of the crisis, but the international community must not neglect rural areas if they want to overcome the massive effects of the earthquake in the country," said FAO Senior Emergency and Rehabilitation Coordinator for Haiti. "Greater investment in agriculture and the creation of jobs in rural areas are needed urgently to stem the flow of displaced people back into Port-au-Prince and to support food security throughout the country" the expert continued.
FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture in Haiti distributed agricultural inputs to 72 000 farming families in earthquake-hit and rural areas in time for the critical spring planting season, which accounts for 60 percent of Haiti's agricultural production. This assistance has enabled over 360 000 people to produce and consume their own locally produced food, selling the surplus to cover health and education expenses. FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture are leading the agriculture cluster, a UN coordination mechanism which spearheads the reconstruction efforts in agriculture in Haiti. The agriculture cluster, which comprises over 170 non-governmental and international organizations, plans to reach an additional 80 000 rural families in the summer planting season with tools, fertilizers, water pumps and high quality seeds, which will increase local food production. The overall scope of the agriculture cluster reconstruction work in Haiti is to support local food production and marketing in rural areas, urban agriculture, reforestation and disaster risk reduction activities to create jobs in rural areas. (AP) (16/7/2010 Agenzia Fides)