Food Crisis - Haiti Observer Blog

It has been observed that around 3.6 million people in Haiti are currently struggling to feed themselves. According to the World Food bank, this has been caused by three consecutive years of drought that have affected harvest and raised food prices in Haiti.The water shortage is caused by a weather phenomenon called El Nino. According to observers, the current El Nino has caused widespread crop losses in several countries.

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Haitian Kreyol

Ayiti mank

Pwoblèm manje ak grangou an Ayiti vini pi mal pa sechrès ki te koze pa El Niño

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Haiti has a food insufficiency problem, and implementation of greenhouse farming techniques has worked to begin addressing it. Also known as vertical farming, greenhouses can produce up to three harvests annually. Haitian peasants, who use it, have increased their incomes ten times over traditional land farming.

Yet vertical farming alone is not solving the food insufficiency crisis. A paucity of joiners creates an obstacle to success. Crop producers distrust middlemen, whom they feel are buying at low prices from them and selling high, cheating them of a fair profit. Without adequate participants, food insufficiency in Haiti cannot be managed.

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Haitian cooks make two versions of macaroni au gratin in their kitchens: quick-and-easy and gourmet style.

Quick-and-Easy Macaroni au Gratin

Assemble the following ingredients:

• 16 oz. cheese sauce
• 12 oz. carnation milk
• 2 tsp.. garlic powder
• 8 oz. prepared ziti
• 1 diced onion
• 4 diced green peppers
• salt to taste
• 3 tbspn. tomato paste

To prepare do the following:
Use a big mixing bowl and combine all ingredients. Place everything in a casserole dish and spoon parmesan cheese on top. Bake in an oven at 325 degrees, 15-25 minutes. It is done when the mixture bubbles and is light brown on top.

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We all know the immediate dangers of hurricanes and tropical storms. The high winds and heavy rainfall can cause loss of life and infrastructure on grand scales within a short time. But, there is a latent danger to the weather phenomena which can prove just as costly to life when finally manifested. Most recently, the efforts of Hurricane Sandy, a storm which some say seemed particularly bent on bringing down trees, and Tropical Storm Isaac, caused such virulent flooding in the country, the southerly regions especially, that an estimated 90% of the harvest has been lost.

This has undoubtedly left such a food deficit that, according to the United Nations' relief wing, one and a half million people are faced with 'severe food insecurity'. Ironically, drought, as well as the floods, also plays a significant role in the shortage of food. Information from The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also point to a rise in the rate of malnutrition affecting 7 out of 10 departments since October. They have on record almost 82,000 malnourished children under 5 years old. It's further said that one in every five households is faced with the threat of acute malnutrition and the U.N. believes that Grande-Anse in the far west is among the worst hit places.

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He was first elected to the post of Haiti's President with a staggering 88% of the popular vote. René Préval again ran for president as the Lespwa candidate but, unlike his first election, this proved not to be a clear-cut victory. When early voting results were released on February 9, they indicated a 60% favorable voting for Préval. This number slipped to 48.7% as more ballots came in and a run-off became necessary.

There were celebrations soon after for the former president, but his comment on February 14, that fraud was at play in the vote counting and that he should be declared the winner of the first round, caused a series of protests to erupt. Port-au-Prince was crippled by torched barricades and protestors stormed the Hotel Montana, demanding the results of the election. Finally, on the 16th, after excluding blank ballots from the count, President Préval officially won his second term as the Haitian head of state with 51.15% of the votes.

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Haiti is experiencing an imminent food crisis, which has at its core the destruction of rice farming. The agricultural sector of Haiti, made up of subsistence farmers, cannot compete in an international market overrun with poor quality imports, especially rice, Haiti's number one staple.

Back in the 1970s, rice cultivation was a thriving industry, requiring no foreign imports to meet domestic needs. But that changed at the start of the 1990s. An attempted coup against then-President Aristide set off global trade embargos, stifling Haiti's export market. At this juncture, cheap imports from abroad came in droves. Haiti, a desperately poor country, has needed development banks' aid. They drove a hard bargain, enforcing a lower import tariff, from 50% to 3%. This negatively impacted the economy, because it became more affordable to import U.S. rice than to farm it domestically.

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