27772: Vedrine (news) RE: 27742: Karshan: (old writings) Understanding Agrarian Reform Under Preval's First Administration ( (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: E Vedrine <evedrine@hotmail.com>

Please, read carefully this article:

"Agriculture the first Target for Haiti's Development" 
http://www.palli.ch/~kapeskreyol/bibliographie/vedrine/agriculture.pdf.
By E. W. VEDRINE - Boston Haitian Reporter, July 2004.

=== ====


From: Michelle Karshan <michellekarshan@yahoo.com>

Understanding Agrarian Reform/Agricultural
Development Under Préval’s First Administration
By Michelle Karshan


Originally: Three Years of Successful Agrarian Reform
Hit Hard by Hurricane George
by Michelle Karshan, Foreign Press Liaison, Bureau of
Press of the Presidence
November 21, 1998

“Agricultural work is the guarantee of our food’s
independence, our economic independence and our
political independence.”  President René Préval

Intro:

President René Préval’s social-economic policy of
Agrarian Reform is mandated by the 1987 Constitution.
The National Institute of Agrarian Reform (INARA) was
created by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and
agrarian reform actualized by President René Préval.
Its implementation is in response to cries for justice
in land conflict where farmers had typically been
forced from the land – often by bloody massacres.

Through this process social reinstatement is
instituted and has opened the way for a new
relationship between government, landowners, and
farmers promoting full participation in a democratic
society.

Agrarian Reform led to a dramatic increase in rice
yield per hectare – from 3 to 5.50 tons.  However,
Hurricane George, in addition to taking human lives
and creating massive homelessness, destroyed as high
as 80-90% of farmland in some areas of the country –
the hardest hit being the Artibonite Valley, the site
of the Agrarian Reform program.

President René Préval Implements Agrarian Reform

Agrarian Reform, Land redistribution and the
commitment to increase national production are
courageous tasks that shake the status quo and empower
the small farmers to become self-sufficient.

The Call for Agrarian Reform

Haiti, once known as the “Pearl of the Antilles” was
rich in produce and natural resources until several
political and social factors contributed to the
present state of its agriculture.  Soil erosion, land
conflict, deforestation, loss of watershed, all
resulted in a decrease in agricultural production and
subsequent poverty.  This caused a massive exodus to
the cities in search of work.  Haiti, a country once
more than able to meet its own food needs, as well as
export abroad, found itself dependent on importation
of food – some in direct competition with its own
production.

Since the victory of the slave revolt which overthrew
the French in 1904, Haiti – the first black republic –
has been embroiled in bloody land conflicts.
Initially conflict arose from the dividing up of large
plantation parcels seized from the French colonists.
Further compounding these early feuds were numerous
subsequent governments who further divided up land for
their friends and families.  The continuous
redistribution of land often resulted from false
claims creating tensions between large and small
landowners, farmers, the State, and other interested
parties.

The former military and the section chiefs (together
commanding thousands of unofficial “attaches”) acted
on behalf of large landowners by illegally and
violently seizing land from the poor.  Repression and
massacres created a climate of insecurity and terror.

As land parcels became smaller and smaller, economic
conditions harsher, farmers were faced with escalating
prices for seeds, equipment, and other necessities.
Farmers rented small parcels of land to farm on at
3,000 gourdes per hectare and often found themselves
forced to use loan sharks at exorbitant rates.
Farmers often are forced to sell their crops
prematurely just to be able to feed their families.
All these factors contributed to extreme economic
conditions and deep misery.

In 1987, the first democratically-voted Haitian
Constitution was overwhelmingly passed which contained
a mandate within Article 248 for land reform and the
creation of an institution to carry out the process.
The institution would organize the restructuring of
land tenure and implement land reform for the benefit
of the people cultivating the land.

In April of 1995, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, by
Presidential decree, established the National
Institute of Agrarian Reform (INARA), which would
propose an agrarian reform policy based on the
optimization of productivity and build an
infrastructure to protect and develop the land.

The Process

The Artibonite Valley, only 40 miles north of
Port-au-Prince, epitomized the bloody land conflicts
with approximately half of the Artibonite Valley under
conflict.  Committed to bringing peace to the region,
the Artibonite Valley was the natural choice of where
to begin the land reform.

Some of the many advances and developments coming
together created an environment ripe for land reform:
the implementation of the constitutionally mandated
collective territorial (decentralization) which gives
representation at the base level throughout the
country, respect for the Creole language spoken by the
majority, the elimination of the former military and
the section chief system, the creation of a new police
force guided by the Constitution and respect for the
rule of law, and the declarations of President René
Préval to make agrarian reform and development of the
national production the priorities of his
administration.

Literally rolling up his sleeves and taking to the
road with the majority of his cabinet, the ministers
of the various departments and technical advisors,
President René Préval set out to open a dialogue and a
consensus with the people working the land.

In a series of meetings held in the Artibonite Valley
with farmers, farmers’ organizations, popular
organizations, elected officials (Senators, Deputies,
Delegates, Mayors, Caseks) and representatives from
the Development Office of the Artibonite Valley (ODVA)
and INARA, the President listened to the problems and
obstacles to agricultural development as identified by
its key players.

Irrigation, electricity to power the water flow, dry
canals needing to be dredged, lack of transportation
and proper roads, were some of the infrastructure
problems cited.  Allegations of corruption and
incompetence, and the need for credit, the absence of
heavy equipment and farming tools were also raised.

The President and his delegations made countless
visits to grain storage facilities, the ODVA, fish
farms, collectives, rice fields, wells, dams, rivers,
etc.  All of these obstacles had to be addressed if
Agrarian Reform was to get underway.

The President and his delegations sat with the farmers
in long working sessions to hash over problems and
possible solutions.  On some occasions, international
donors participated in an effort to unblock whatever
was preventing the implementation of their funding and
work in the region.

With so many high-level Haitian government
representatives present in the delegation, solutions
and decisions were expeditiously reached.

Now in its Second Phase, the Agrarian Reform has been
a success due to the emphasis on the slow and methodic
quest of developing a pattern of partnership between
the State and the Beneficiaries which was created in
the First Phase.

Public participation played a key role in the success
of the Agrarian Reform thus far.  It encourages all to
voice their concerns.  The small farmers come into the
process to give their input and direction to the
country.  The Government and the farmers, working hand
in hand, take their partnership seriously.  194 years
after independence these changes are in motion and
will force the redefining of the role of the State.
Further, the new system of decentralization -- which
gives representation through local elections and
appointment -- encourages accountability to their
constituents.  These representatives, on the local and
national level, participated in every step of the
Agrarian Reform process.

President René Préval’s idea is to gather together
everyone involved in agricultural development – the
Agrarian Reform.  The President outlined three
outcomes from the approach in Artibonite: 1) Small
farmers feel and believe that they are truly part of
the reform; 2) There is now a confidence and trust
between the small farmers and the government
authorities on resolving the difficulties confronting
each locality, and 3) there is confidence amongst the
population.

To enable Agrarian Reform, equipment was obtained, the
ODVA reorganized, credit made available for
beneficiary families of the land redistribution, legal
status of parcels was achieved, fertilizers, tools and
heavy equipment were made available, infrastructure
constraints were addressed such as dredging of canals,
irrigation, water pumps and electricity to power them,
roads repaired, assuring security and restoring
storage facilities.  Additionally, the State undertook
the enormous task of building or renovating schools,
medical centers, and other vital support services to
the daily lives of the farmers.

The State provided numerous pieces of heavy equipment
to the ODVA for use throughout the Artibonite Valley
including 15 excavators, 3 bulldozers, several heavy
trucks and tank trucks, flatbeds, blow torches, pumps,
dredgers, wrecking equipment, 3 loaders, and more to
the total of 171,399, 091.89 gourdes (approx 17
gourdes = US $1).  The first steps of the First Stage
included curage of 38,460 canals and 28,427 drains and
the fouilles of 1,675 drains.

A Working Partnership

A contractual partnership was created between the
Haitian government and INARA and the Beneficiary
families in which each have a set of rights and
obligations and jointly, INARA and the Beneficiaries
work to 1. Define their partnership, 2. Create the
process for the Agrarian Reform for their region, 3.
Provide oversight and evaluation, 4. Work together in
the Committees of Oversight, Support and Management.

Beneficiaries are family units, not individuals, and
are often headed by a woman.  Women are viewed as
equal under the law and therefore also have the right
to be the representative of their family.

The State is obligated to perform the major
infrastructure work necessary, do the major
irrigation, and other tasks in furtherance of the
Agrarian Reform process and agricultural development.
The State makes available a credit program, a seed
program, as well as provides support to the
Beneficiary organizations.

The Beneficiaries are obligated under the contract to,
among other things, personally work the land and make
their parcel of land profitable, keep ditches and
drains on the parcel clean, agree not to build on the
parcel of land, respect the limits of the parcel and
those canals, drains, bridges and roads which are in
close proximity to the parcel of land.  Additionally,
the Beneficiary must participate in programs relating
to seed quality and other technical courses.

Major Accomplishments

The first stage of Agrarian Reform, held in the
Artibonite Valley over the last two years, has been
overwhelmingly successful.  Solidarity between the
State, INARA and the farmers was evident as the lines
of communication were always open and public meetings
were held on a regular basis.  The success of the
Agrarian Reform is directly related to the success of
its committees and the general participation of the
farmers, their representatives, and the governmental
offices.

The marked increase in the yield of rice as well as
its quality was evidence of the success of the First
Stage of Agrarian Reform.  Throughout all phases the
increase in yield per hectare has been substantial,
increasing from 3 to 5.05 tons.

The first phase, which took place on four farms,
serves 1740 farmers. From November 1996 to April 1997,
1608 families (representing 8,000 people in the
Artibonite Valley) received 1,000 hectares of land.
Each family received ½ hectare and 5,000 gourdes (17
gourdes = US $1) for expenses related to the
rentability of the land.  A total of 5,725,000.00
gourdes was divided between 1,145 families in credit
at low rates.  Four perimeters with a total of 1,028
hectares have been distributed to 1610 beneficiaries.

The second phase covers more than 15 perimeters with a
surface of 2,538 hectares benefiting 4,200 farmers.

The second phase saw the construction of the
Pont-Sonde-Mirebalais Road.  It crosses Deschapelles,
Verettes, Desarmes Lachapelle, Estinville, and
Carrefour Saut-D’eau.

Information based on Transparance, a publication of
the Press Office of the National Palace, and INARA
materials.





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