To harvest enough, farmers need an immediate investment, but the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is "hampered by low levels of funding for this essential work," the organization underline.

"About 980,000 inhabitants of the departments of Haiti affected by the 7.2 earthquake that hit the Great South on August 14 are facing acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or more, for the period September 2021 - February 2022) FAO reported, specifying that the figure included 320,000 people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4). The Organization drew this figure from an analysis of a population of 2.18 million people, which revealed 29% without need, 26% in stress, 30% in crisis, 15% in emergency.

Although Haiti "has long been vulnerable on several fronts, the earthquake exacerbated the problems, destroying markets, rural roads, storage and processing facilities, dairies and irrigation systems [...] Tropical storm Grace, which hit Haiti days after the earthquake, caused further damage," explained José Luis Fernández, FAO representative in Haiti,

He recalls that "The winter planting season should begin in October. However, the ability of farmers in the Great South to cultivate has been severely affected. To harvest enough, farmers need investment immediately, but we are hampered by the low level of funding [...]"

In this situation, FAO is asking for $20 million to cover the most urgent needs. The sum should be sufficient to restore the livelihoods of 32,000 rural households, where 160,000 people live.

Of these households, 15,000 will receive seeds and funds to await harvest, 10,000 will receive small livestock and 7,000 will benefit from the restoration of damaged infrastructure.

In addition, veterinary teams will be deployed in the affected areas and work will be carried out to reactivate sea fishing and fish farming.

HL/ HaitiLibre