During the last meeting at the Agricultural Sector Table of the North-East, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO - Haiti) presented the progress of the new project "Improvement of food and nutritional security and strengthening the resilience of vulnerable populations in the North-East department" and funded by the European Union to the tune of 4.7 million US dollars.

As part of the project, 180 planters, members of the Artisanal Seed Producers Group (GPAS), were trained in seed multiplication and improved storage techniques.

This training, carried out in collaboration with the Departmental Agricultural Directorate of the North-East, is part of the activities to strengthen planters.

Let's recall that this project launched in September 2021 implemented by FAO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture aims to strengthen access to a more regular and balanced diet for 4,000 vulnerable rural households in the municipalities of Ferrier, Fort-Liberté, Perches and Ouanaminthe, in order to improve their resilience to natural hazards and climatic shocks. It will also contribute, at the institutional level, to improving the governance of the food sector, in particular by supporting the National Coordination for Food Security (CNSA) and the implementation of the National Policy and Strategy for Food Sovereignty and Security and Nutrition in Haiti.

The implementation of this project will be based on an approach consisting of three pillars for the benefit of grassroots community organizations:

A technical pillar :

The organizations, made up of small farmers, breeders and fishermen, take part in participatory and interactive learning of good agricultural practices, which are more productive and adapted to the environment, and also benefit from agricultural inputs adapted to their productive activities. Thanks to the strengthening of their capacities in agricultural techniques, these organizations will be able to sustainably improve their food production in quantity and quality and benefit from storage and processing capacities for better access to the market.

A financial pillar :

The implementation of community credit and savings initiatives will be facilitated by the establishment of Village Savings and Credit Associations. The capital is constituted by the members of the association and they themselves manage the shares and the loans.

A social pillar :

Spaces for community dialogue will be set up for the benefit of the beneficiary communities. They decide which issues and problems to discuss, conflict resolution mechanisms, and develop a community development plan. Thanks to this component, the capacities of the beneficiary communities in terms of associative life and participatory communication on aspects of local development will be strengthened, in order to meet the challenges specific to their communities, and thus social cohesion will be improved.

HL/ HaitiLibre