Foreign Aid - Haiti Observer Blog

Haiti has an underfunded and inadequate water and sanitation system. As a result cholera cases continue to multiply. Here is some information on the state of Haiti's water system.

Fewer than 50% of Haitians in rural areas can obtain water. Though there exists piped water systems, a majority of them don't function due to underfunding. The solution has been delivered by the World Bank South Region by hiring professional operators to run the systems. Also a U.S. $50 million dollar water initiative will help to prevent cholera by increasing local agencies' capacity to provide more access to water and sanitation.

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Many people might view the established custom of the United States to provide food aid to Haiti as a beneficent act to a struggling country; a selfless act that operates at a loss to the American taxpayer. But the truth is U.S. aid and trade policies may well do more for American farmers than for the average Haitian. In fact, U.S. aid, as Haiti has been experiencing it for the past few years, has done the country, its agricultural sector and its citizens, more harm than good.

Somewhere between 50% and 60% of the population of Haiti rely on their own small farms for subsistence. The practices and policies attached to U.S. Aid food operate in such a way that the livelihoods of farmers and subsequently the Haitian Agricultural Sector are negatively affected. Today, Haiti imports no less than 50% of the food it consumes, making itself America's second largest importer of rice. This problem was detailed in a study done in 2006 that showed that nearly 100,000 people were negatively impacted by the lowering of Haitian chicken, rice and sugar tariffs.

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Haiti has been depending on food aid for over last 50 years. Decades of inexpensive imports has destroyed the local agriculture. Haitian import tariff on food at 3% are among the lowest in the Caribbean. As a result, Haiti is unable to feed himself.

Today Haiti depends on the outside world nearly most of its sustenance. Fifty five percent of the food eaten in the country is imported, mostly from U.S and the Dominican Republic; this includes 80% of all the rice consumed within the country. However, recently some of the international aid agencies have raised a cry of alarm. Haiti is facing severe food shortage. Almost two-thirds of the population (around 7 million people) is hungry.

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Julian Fantino, the Minister for International Cooperation has reported that programs that are underway in Haiti would be funded by his department. However the new projects will not be funded as of now.

Funding Old Programs Only
Future related to funding seems to be cloudy after a Ottawa report stating that money to the Caribbean country for funding projects has been frozen. A story was published by La Presse, in Montreal that Julian Fantino was not very happy with lack of progress in Haiti when he visited it in November last year.

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After suffering from a devastating earthquake back in 2010, Haiti has been slowly recovering and has even surprisingly ensured economic growth in a short span of time for the past two years. This is due to the constant flow of financial aid given to the Caribbean country by developed countries through the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF has already released about $300 million since 2010 to help Haiti out. But with the recent economic recession happening in several developed countries, chances of Haiti obtaining sufficient assistance from IMF and other nations for the next years to come is slim.

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