Haiti’s Rural Hunger Gets Urgent Aid Boost
Port-au-Prince/Rome/Cape Town: Global hunger has eased slightly, with 673 million people—8.2 per cent of the world’s population—facing chronic undernourishment in 2024, down from 8.7 per cent in 2022, but Haiti remains in crisis, with nearly half its population struggling with severe food insecurity amid escalating deportations, mass displacement, and worsening climatic shocks. A new emergency initiative in Haiti’s North and Centre departments is delivering critical aid—cash, seeds, fodder, and training—to 1,500 vulnerable rural households, approximately 7,500 people, to save lives and rebuild livelihoods in areas battered by overlapping challenges.
The programme targets displaced persons, deportees from the Dominican Republic, and the communities hosting them in the communes of Dondon, Plaine du Nord, Belladère, and Lascahobas, aiming to enable families to produce their own food while bolstering resilience against recurring natural hazards. The September 2024 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis reveals that nearly one in two Haitians is in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) or higher (Emergency or worse), with most living in rural areas reliant on agriculture and livestock. This means many families skip meals, eat less to stretch supplies, face malnutrition risks, or resort to extreme measures to survive severe food shortages.
Funded through the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the initiative supports displacement camps and host families with a multi-pronged approach: emergency food production, livelihood rehabilitation, and climate-smart agricultural training. For food production, 1,200 households—covering 6,000 people—are receiving nine tonnes of black bean seeds, three tonnes of groundnut seeds adapted to dry conditions, and 600,000 elephant grass cuttings. These inputs are expected to generate over 250 tonnes of food within 90 days, sufficient to feed 8,000 households for six months and enhance dietary diversity. Unconditional cash transfers are also provided to meet immediate food needs and prevent selling the agricultural inputs.
Livelihood rehabilitation efforts involve 300 people restoring over 19 kilometers of non-functioning irrigation canals, restoring water access to 100–300 hectares of farmland, and constructing 200 shelters to house and protect 1,200 goats or other small livestock. These activities strengthen local production capacities and provide income opportunities, benefiting approximately 1,500 people across 300 households. Additionally, 400 farmers will receive hands-on training in climate-smart agricultural practices and techniques to boost productivity and adapt to the worsening climate crisis.
The targeted communes face severe overlapping stressors. Belladère serves as a primary entry point for more than half of all deportees from the Dominican Republic and hosts large numbers of internally displaced persons, while a recent surge of violence in Lascahobas has further disrupted local markets and farming activities. Pierre Vauthier, a representative in Haiti, stated, “In Haiti, emergency food production and preparedness for climate shocks is not just an immediate emergency response: it is the only effective way to generate lasting impact and empowerment in the lives of rural communities.” This approach addresses urgent needs while laying the groundwork for long-term disaster preparedness, enabling farmers to produce food, protect assets, and adapt to a changing climate.
By combining immediate assistance with long-term resilience measures, the initiative works closely with rural communities to protect livelihoods, strengthen food security, and pave the way for recovery and stability.
In a related development in Cape Town, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director-General QU Dongyu addressed a G20 Agriculture Working Group Ministerial Meeting, hosted by South African Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen under the theme “Data-Driven Approaches to Addressing Food Security and Promoting Inclusive Agricultural Investment and Market Access.” Amid global crises pushing millions into hunger and poverty, Qu emphasised that the world’s largest economies, as major producers and consumers, are uniquely positioned to drive transformation toward more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems.
Qu outlined four key areas for G20 leadership: scaling up innovation and digitalisation, increasing sustainable and resilient investment, improving data transparency and market functioning, and promoting integrated policy approaches. He described this as “an urgent call for coordinated global action.” He also presented key findings from the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2025 Report, prepared jointly by FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO). The report highlights that 673 million people—one in 12 globally—faced chronic undernourishment in 2024, with hunger declining modestly but rising in Africa.
If current trends persist, by 2030, over 512 million people will remain hungry, nearly 60 per cent in Africa. The SOFI 2025 report underscores that hunger is declining too slowly, food price inflation is eroding diets, and inequalities are widening. Qu noted, “The message of SOFI 2025 is clear: hunger is declining too slowly, food price inflation is eroding diets, and inequalities are widening. But with coordinated, evidence-based action, the G20 can bend the curve.” The combined efforts in Haiti and global calls for action reflect a critical moment to address both immediate and systemic challenges in food security.
– global bihari bureau
