Why Haiti is in its current situation.

Urban Migration

Three periods of big "urban migration"

1960s: creation of the Airport Industrial Park, and around it Cité Soleil, drawing rural farmers to the cities for higher wages

1981: active recruitment of Haitian workers for sugar cane plantations in the Dominican Republic

1987: consequences of neoliberal policies adopted by the Haitian Government, under International Monetary Fund pressure

All of which contributed to the plummeting of the price of crops grown in Haiiti. Simultaneously, crops were becoming harder to grow because of soil depletion and worth less.

Tree Cutting and Erosion

Cutting trees has become a new income source for charcoal production, construction lumber, and other industrial needs. Once large trees had been taken, the taking of fruit trees began. The loss of old-growth trees contributes to soil erosion. Today, less than 2% of Haiti’s tree cover remains. Without intervention the land will soon be unable to support either farming or logging.

Soil depletion

Once the trees are gone and unsustainable agricultural practices are undertaken, the soil is drained of its nutrients and there is nothing to prevent storms from simply pushing the soil into the sea. Soil depletion has forced most commune residents to turn away from farming and toward tree cutting for income.

Climate change

As changing weather patterns and extremes effect the environmental conditions of Haiti, local farmers need to adapt. By investing in agroecology awareness and implementation, Greening Haiti Fund is teaching farmers to create sustainable and nutritious food systems.