In a note on food security in Haiti, Systems Network (FEWS NET), the international famine early warning network, highlights that spring harvests are underway; but due to the scarcity and therefore the high cost of seeds, the reduction of sown land, insecurity and the high cost of labor, production is estimated to be below average

Widespread Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes persist due to insecurity due to the activities of armed gangs that continue to disrupt the livelihoods of poor households and market supplies. Indeed, farmers, and particularly agricultural workers, face lower than normal incomes, forcing them to limit their food consumption. Cité Soleil, and the poorest households in other municipalities in the metropolitan area, such as Croix-des-Bouquets, where violence and severe acute malnutrition are still rife, are still experiencing Emergency (IPC Phase 4) acute food insecurity.

Spring harvests are underway, but due to the constraints that farmers have had to face, including the scarcity and therefore the high cost of seeds, the reduction of sown land, insecurity and the high cost of labor, production is estimated to be below average. This has temporarily improved local availability and household food access, although to a limited extent compared to normal. However, gang violence limiting the movement of goods and people, particularly the supply of markets, impacts the sale of these crops to the highest bidders in the capital. This forces farmers to sell them locally, despite the seasonal drop in prices.

Despite the seasonal decline in prices of local agricultural products resulting from the spring harvests, food prices remain abnormally high, +80% compared to their 3-year average. This atypical price increase reflects the overall annual inflation which has been on an upward trajectory since February, increasing from 23% to 28.3% in May, driven by inflation of food products and non-alcoholic beverages, which reached 40.5% year-on-year (BRH).

Insecurity is still mainly concentrated in the West department (Port-au-Prince, 80% of its territory under the control of armed gangs) and Artibonite. The security situation remains tense, particularly in the precarious neighborhoods of the capital, characterized by frequent clashes between gangs and law enforcement. These disturbances continue to have direct repercussions on the normal functioning of markets and income-generating activities in these areas.

HL/ HaitiLibre