Now more than ever there is an increasing urgency to support development
projects designed to address the worsening economic plight of Haiti's
rural population, by promoting commercial agriculture and environmental
protection.
crisis
areas, important programs that could help the Haitian farmers are being
put on hold. Lack of funding reduces the benefits of successful projects.
It also increases the pressure on a rural population struggling to find
its direction in a bankrupt environment. Opportunities abound, but could
permanently fade away if neglected. Making the jump from subsistence farming
to commercially viable agriculture is perfectly feasible. The program
expertise is in place and can be rapidly mobilized if sufficient support
is available. Over time, the farmers who have participated in our programs
have come to embrace them: willingly investing their time, energy and
scant resources. Confidence increases as our programs bring more income
to their communities, and a renewed feeling of hope replaces the despondency
and neglect that inevitably result from unprofitable agriculture. The
final step, today's challenge, is to bring these programs to fruition,
expanding commercial production and aligning it with the standards of
international marketing.
But
they have repeatedly demonstrated that given means (the guidance, technical support
and necessary agricultural materials) they can and will sustain economic growth
based on the production and marketing of improved commercial crops. Local hybrid
corn seeds are now available in areas where local corn yields were among the lowest
in the world - all that is required is to increase the production of our improved
seeds and assist the farmers in maximizing yields. Thanks to our grafting programs,
commercial fruits are now prominent in areas where previously fruits had little
value (and tree-cutting was prevalent). Today, the program needs to continue to
expand the number of productive commercial fruit trees and assist the producer
groups (that are spontaneously forming) in the grading and handling techniques
needed to make them competitive on the local and international markets. The profits
are exceptional for Haiti… and will continue to benefit farmers for several
decades. High revenue vegetable production is increasing following the introduction
of improved plant material. But at this stage farmers need the technical support
to ensure that their products meet international standards. 