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Peasant - Haiti Observer Blog

Peasant, Haiti Observer Blog. Read the following articles about Peasant


 

The agricultural system of Kombit in Haiti

A well known staple of Haitian culture and society the Kombit system allows, through the collaborative effort of members of the community, the cashless exchange of agricultural goods and supplies. The emphasis of the concept is the sharing of products in a communal sense, not selling for profit. This way is not conducive to exportation, as most of the produced items are consumed within the area in which they are produced.

Ordinarily, a farmer will announce a planned Kombit day, selecting one fit for planting a specific crop. Invitations are extended to as many as he can support and tasks are meted out based on ability--with men responsible for digging and heavy lifting, and sex--with women and children doing easier work such as planting seeds. The work becomes an even greater benefit to the community with the unity it provides through the singing and joke telling that accompanies a Kombit. Participants are fed three meals for the day and share in the harvest they have helped to plan and plant.

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Daniel Fignole a Brilliant Labor Leader

Daniel Fignole, born in 1913 in Pestel and raised in grinding poverty, suffered from childhood malnutrition. To escape the poverty of his birthplace, Daniel re-settled in Port-au-Prince and sought an education. He proved to be an excellent student, winning acceptance to a top-tier university in the capital.

During the early 1940s, Daniel Fignole published the leftist, Chantiers, in which he harshly criticized the mulatto elite of Haiti. President Elié Lescot, provoked by Fignolé's attacks, stopped the publication, axed him from his government job, and spied on him.

Indifferent to government actions, Daniel Fignole kept organizing the working-class of Port-au-Prince. They became aware of him as an electrifying orator, motivational writer, and powerful labor leader. It was rumored he could rally mass demonstrations at a moment's notice. In 1947, he headed the Peasant Worker Movement, a tight-knit union comprised of every labor sector.

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Elie Lescot and the SHADA Project

During WWII when the Axis Powers managed to cut off the Eastern rubber supply, the then Haitian President, Elie Lescot proposed an ambitious to USA. He proposed to rapidly increase the rubber production during the war period in the countryside of Haiti. $5 million was granted by Washington's Export-Import Bank in 1941 so that rubber plantation can be developed in Haiti. This ambitious program was named at Société Haïtiano-Américane de Développement Agricole or SHADA. Thomas Fennell, an American agronomist managed the SHADA program.

Using US military support, Lescot administration cleared 47,177 acres of land by 1943 with the purpose of planting high latex-yielding cryptostegia vine. Over time, 100,000 hectares of land were claimed by the SHADA project. During this period, Elie Lescot campaigned and sold people the idea that SHADA will only improve and modernize agriculture in Haiti. However, Haitian families were forcibly removed from arable lands and nearly a million trees capable of bearing fruit were cut down.

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