[R-G] Haiti: Growing Concern Among Poor Over Hunger and Rural Economy

[Anthony Fenton]

http://haitianalysis.com/2008/4/2/haiti-growing-concern-among-poor-over-hunger-and-rural-economy

April 3rd, 2008
Haiti: Growing Concern Among Poor Over Hunger and Rural Economy

By: Wadner Pierre - HaitiAnalysis.com

Amongst the poor in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, the lack of  
affordable food is becoming a mounting problem. On tap-taps,  
colorfully decorated automobiles used for transportation by the poor,  
one can hear this discussion daily. Conversations on the tap-taps are  
referred to as "Radio thirty two".

Many poor Haitians have taken to referring meanwhile to hunger as  
"Klorox", a reference to a bleach which can kill people if enough of  
it is swallowed. Riding the tap-tap one hears references to "Klorox"  
when people mean hunger, a code word to mask the daily misery.

Recently, international headlines have paid attention to hunger in  
Haiti, where people resort to eating mud pies.

During the 1980s, due to pressure from the United States government,  
the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier wiped out the creole pigs  
(porca) that were indigenous to Haiti. After that catastrophic policy,  
peasants struggled more than ever to feed their children and to take  
them to school. The pigs were crucial to the rural economy, the "bank  
account" of the peasants. The problems were compounded by neo-liberal  
policies first implemented by the military government of Henry Namphy  
and continually pressured upon the country over the following decades.  
Trade liberalization meant that food imports undercut farmers who were  
also denied the means to invest in their production.

In recent months students and civil society groups have demanded the  
government place its focus on rebuilding the rural economy. But most  
of the government reforms have thus far been superficial. In March  
2008 Jacques Edouard Alexis, the Prime Minister of Haiti, invited the  
United States' first lady Laura Bush to visit Haiti. This occurred  
just after Forbes magazine classified Haiti as among the most violent  
countries, just beneath Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mr. Alexis hoped that the visit would improve the image of Haiti in  
the world. "When a magazine like Forbes classed Haiti in the 4th  
position after Iraq and Afghanistan for example, this visit should  
give Haiti a chance to present a different image of what we used to  
see", he explained.

While the government continues to work to improve the image of the  
country, the lasting changes needed to propel a rural economy and  
social investment programs are null and void.

In the Artibonite’s Valley and the Cayes’ Valley-two places that could  
potentially supply all of Haiti with rice-a breadbasket for the  
country-the government has not proceeded with improving to any large  
extent. According to many Haitians, even poor who rely on cheap  
foreign rice, developing the countries potential is what the  
government needs to do.

Haitians living in the United States are also advocating a multi- 
pronged program to revitalize the rural economy. And in Port-au-Prince  
it is more common now to hear outrage on the streets over the matter.

Merisma Jean-Claudel, a young high school graduate from Port-au-Prince  
explained over the phone "...people can’t buy food. Gasoline prices  
are going up. It is very hard for us over here. The cost of living is  
the biggest worry for us, no peace in stomach means no peace in the  
mind. Although, many can’t pay taxi or tap-tap fares just from Delmas  
to the downtown of Port-Au-Prince, I wonder if others will be able to  
survive the days ahead because things are very, very hard. It is  
imperative that the government reopen food banks to save lives. In  
2003 they had food banks in the popular districts. Now they are  
closed. The government must reopen them if they don't want people to  
die."

Endy, an adult Haitian man, observed ”It is really impossible to live.  
I can’t drive to go to my work. I am pretty sure that things must be  
changed because they can’t stay like that. People must be able to get  
a daily plate. They die from hunger. That is the headlines news in  
almost all the media in the Haitian Capital now ”.

He added “The non-profit organizations can’t keep up. They are  
overwhelmed" and he added many could even close their doors or leave  
at any time.

Their is a sense of desperation and urgency amongst the poor but a  
will never to give up. Attempts by popularly elected Haitian  
governments to create sustainable sovereign programs have been  
crushed, by embargo's on aid and ex-military insurgencies.

In one famous quote “No life and no hope for us”, a man on a radio  
show in Haiti shortly after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was  
overthrown in 2004, spoke sadly of the future for his country. Instead  
of a government coordinated food bank program, as established under  
the Aristide government (2001-2004), the poor have no option now but  
to pay increasing prices for basic food staples.

But the poor are demanding to know what is their government's  
agriculture policy, when will the government intervene to defend the  
rural economy and make sure people have enough food to eat? The two  
issues are tied together. A large amount of investment and political  
will is needed if the hunger problem alone is to be solved. Rebuilding  
the rural economy serves an even larger problem.