23307: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald-Floods destroy Haitian harvest (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Tue, Sep. 28, 2004




HAITI


Floods destroy Haitian harvest

Tropical Storm Jeanne, which brought flooding and death to Haiti, also
devastated crops in the Artibonite region, the country's breadbasket.

BY SUSANNAH A. NESMITH

snesmith@herald.com


PORT-DE-PAIX, Haiti - The floods that killed more than 1,500 people last
week also washed away much of the country's harvest, plunging an already
desperately poor nation deeper into hunger.

Edna Merite, a single mother of three, only had three goats and a little
more than a half-acre plot of plantains and sugar cane before the flood. The
crops and the animals are gone.

''When the flood came, two men came and each took a child and I took a child
and we swam them out,'' she said. ``But there is nothing we could do for the
farm. It's gone.''

Haiti only produced 45 percent of the food it consumed before the floods.
Aid organizations are now worried that number will drop to even more
critical levels because of hundreds of acres of farmland that were flooded
and the thousands of farm animals killed.

''Most of the harvest [in the flooded regions] has been destroyed,'' said
Guy Gauvreau, of the U.N.'s World Food Program. ``The level of
self-sufficiency for Haiti will go down from 45 percent to 35 percent at
least, maybe worse. It's getting critical that this country begins to
support the farmers to produce more.''

HARD-HIT REGION

The floods hit the Artibonite region hardest, an area considered Haiti's
breadbasket. Many small villages on the north coast, around Port-de-Paix,
also suffered heavy losses, with farms washed away and livestock destroyed.

Government workers said the flooding damaged 9,900 acres of crops -- sweet
potatoes, bananas and plantain -- near Gonaives and officials plan to plant
seeds in the area before year's end. Another 3,700 acres in the Tres Riviere
valley were damaged, the government said. ''We will give seeds to the
farmers so they can start their gardens, and start collecting tools for the
farmers,'' said Arlan Lecorps, a researcher for the Ministry of Agriculture.
The storm has had an immediate effect of increasing prices.

In Port-de-Paix's central market, women selling food said avocados that used
to cost less than 10 cents now cost almost 20 cents. Bananas have more than
doubled in price and the price for a sack of rice three feet tall has
increased from $34 to $40.

''Life was difficult but it has never been this difficult before,'' said
Louline Derelis, 65. ``It's impossible now because things are really
expensive.''

The World Food Program and CARE International are providing emergency food
aid to women and children in Gonaives.

MORE DISRTIBUTION

Little aid has reached the north coast -- CARE officials said they had
distributed some food kits to residents of Port-de-Paix, but had not been
able to reach the isolated villages.

To stave off a potential food shortage, the World Food Program is planning
to expand the food distribution to farmers so they are able to concentrate
on replanting as quickly as possible.

It's a desperate effort to save the next harvest.

Peter Bell, president of CARE International, said that food shortages might
be the long-term result of the flooding.

''What's absolutely crucial is thinking long-term about food security,
increasing production, so Haiti can begin to support itself,'' he said.

Herald staff writer Trenton Daniel contributed to this report.

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