In Haiti, Golden Hopes in a Yellow Grain
GONAIVES, Haiti – As the sun starts to set on Haiti's
most fertile valley, a silent group of women sweeps grains of newly
harvested rice into large, yellow mounds, unfazed by the acrid smoke of
nearby wood fires.
From there, the rice is placed in barrels, where it will
be cleaned over those fires. Then, in a small back room on a winter
afternoon, it will be packed in bags and shipped from this mill in
west-central Haiti's Artibonite Valley, ending up in the kitchens of
Haitian expatriates and other discriminating cooks across the United States.
This was once a common scene in Haiti. Now it's a rarity.
A few decades ago, Haiti was self-sufficient in rice, a crop so
important here that the U.N. estimates it makes up about a quarter of
people's daily diet. It even grew enough to export. But production
collapsed after the U.S. and international lenders forced the country to
dramatically lower tariffs that protected local farmers, from 50 percent to 3 percent in the last three decades.
A quarter-century later, about 80 percent
of Haiti's rice is imported, and the country is a major market for U.S.
exporters. Faced with cheap imports, the country's dire poverty,
natural disasters, lack of investment and collapsing infrastructure,
production is still dropping in Haiti
despite government efforts to halt the slide. Last year, the government
reported a rise and a subsequent drop because of bad weather.
Some Haitian entrepreneurs say there is money to be made
growing rice. Skeptics, however, say hopes to resurrect the rice
industry are misplaced and, with too few resources and little
international support, represent the challenges that many poor,
underdeveloped countries face in turning their economies around.
Fabias Voltaire, 37, one Haitian trying to boost rice
production, was able to reach an agreement to process his rice at a
cooperative that is funded by the aid group Oxfam. He said there is a
strong foreign demand for high-quality organic rice. It may cost more,
but many regard it as healthier and better-tasting than American
varieties. Plus, Haitian émigrés in the States love it, he says:
"Haitians are … very sentimental about eating rice from home."
In 2015, Voltaire and two cousins launched Caribbean Grains LLC. Three years later, they are shipping to Florida, Alabama and other U.S. states.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
About three-quarters of its 11 million people live on less than $2 a day
and about half the population lives in rural settings. In 2010,
following a magnitude 7.0 earthquake
that devastated the country, former U.S. President Bill Clinton
publicly apologized for forcing Haiti to drop its import tariffs and
damaging the economy.
"It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked," said Clinton at the time, according to news reports. "It was a mistake."
Since then, hurricanes Sandy in 2012 and Matthew in 2016
cost Haiti hundreds of millions in agricultural losses, making it even
harder to recover.
Jovenel Moise, who became Haiti's president in February 2017, has an agricultural background and pledged to relaunch the industry by fixing irrigation canals, financing infrastructure projects and other initiatives. By May 2017, the government had unveiled its program "La Caravane du Changement" – The Caravan of Change – to fund such infrastructure repairs. Although government estimates of the program's cost are difficult to obtain, Haitian news media reports say $55 million was spent in 2017 to repair the country's agriculture infrastructure.
Jovenel Moise, who became Haiti's president in February 2017, has an agricultural background and pledged to relaunch the industry by fixing irrigation canals, financing infrastructure projects and other initiatives. By May 2017, the government had unveiled its program "La Caravane du Changement" – The Caravan of Change – to fund such infrastructure repairs. Although government estimates of the program's cost are difficult to obtain, Haitian news media reports say $55 million was spent in 2017 to repair the country's agriculture infrastructure.
Still, the challenges to boosting the country's rice
industry are great. Production costs are high, and farmers have almost
no access to loans or insurance to protect them from the ravages of
insects and plant diseases.
The facts on the ground keep skepticism high that the
initiatives will substantially boost rice production. Thousands of acres
in the Artibonite Valley are waterlogged, making them prone to disease,
especially around the time of harvests. Other parts of the valley
aren't getting enough water.
Travis J. Lybbert, an economist and professor at the University of California-Davis
who has done extensive research in the region, says the government's
focus on better irrigation could make a big impact on rice production.
"It is relatively easy to make this happen," he says,
adding that it would be much harder to provide access to inputs such as
seed and fertilizer or create a better market for farm products.
The government can prioritize spending on agriculture
without a lot of scrutiny, shortchanging other sectors of the economy in
a country that is in desperate need of just about everything.
"These are very important and heavy costs that are easy
to sweep under the rug as many other projects get delayed," Lybbert
adds. "That could be a real drag on development in other parts of the
country."
Looking out over a nearly dry river and irrigation canals
that need to be cleaned and rebuilt, Agriculture Ministry
representative Renaud Gene says Haiti has the political will to fix the
problem, but not the means.
"There is a serious problem of water management, and it requires a lot of investments," he says.
The government has been fixing roads and canals but
doesn't have the resources to make dramatic improvements. Instead of
feeding Haitians in need with their own excess production, Gene says
rich countries could assist Haiti more by helping develop its
infrastructure, and then buying the rice from Haitian farmers to
distribute.
In contrast with Voltaire, many in the region say a long
history of failure leaves them pessimistic that anything will change.
They regard the government initiative as at best populist and naïve.
While not questioning the president's intentions, many simply aren't
optimistic about the feasibility of breaking through the obstacles that
exist.
"Jovenel is struggling like a poor devil but I am not
sure where he's going," says Franklin Benjamin, an engineer and rice
producer who has dedicated his career to finding ways to supply Haitians
with locally produced rice.
For decades, attempts to develop the sector have failed,
he says, because farmers never get the incentives and solid support
system they need.
"Haiti doesn't interest Haitians. They are all looking to
get a visa to go somewhere where they are despised," he adds. "There is
still a hope, but we will be disappointed like always."
In the midst of such pessimism, Voltaire hopes that his
success might inspire the next entrepreneur. And he has even bigger
dreams.
"I want to create an agricultural bank for farmers," he
says. "The objective is to make Haiti the economic capital of the
Caribbean."
He splits his time between West Palm Beach, Florida, and
Haiti and still plans to continue growing his business despite the
challenges. He says he spent $10,000 to fix the irrigation canals he
needed for his own production.
On his farm, Voltaire's workers take a pause to laugh and
joke a bit around a broken-down tractor. The fact that the rice mill
exists at all is a small miracle.
Additional reporting by Jean Pharès Jérôme. Photo by Jean Marc Hervé Abelard. This story was produced in collaboration with Round Earth Media.
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